


The Last Mage Of Krypton

by TheBeardedOne



Series: Harry Of El [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Superman - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 64,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27758254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeardedOne/pseuds/TheBeardedOne
Summary: Doomed planet. Desperate scientists.Last hope. Prophecy. New family. New fate.The Last Mage of Krypton arises.
Series: Harry Of El [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030536
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	1. The Chosen One

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…"_

"We need to hurry!" Jor-El shouted as another, even more violent tremor shook the house. Only a frantic grab-and-heave kept the modified probe on its launch cradle while Lara Van-El staggered into the room, managing to not drop their son.

"Quickly!" Jor-El urged and Lara managed to reach the probe. For a long moment, she simply held their son, tears trickling down her cheeks, then she gently placed him in the special stasis-pod installed into the probe.

Jor-El glanced at the larger rocket-ship, still several six-days away from completion and his heart ached at the knowledge that this would be the last he ever saw of his son. Modifying the probe had taught him things which he had needed to know to create the rocket ship, cutting the construction time of the rocket ship by more than it took to adjust the pod that would save his son, but had he tried to simply build the ship first, all three of them would be doomed.

Lara touched the control that closed and activated the stasis pod, then looked up at her husband even as yet another, larger, tremor hit. This time it took both of them to stabilise the probe and on the other side of the workroom, the landing gear of the rocket ship buckled, sending it crashing to the floor.

"Do it." Lara whispered and Jor-El nodded, tapping the control that began to retract the ceiling. As soon as the gap was large enough, Jor-El triggered the launch protocols and the probe rose on its internal antigravs, then the main drive fluttered into life. Lara moved into her husband's embrace as the ship rotated to point at the sky, then the drive crystal flared, accelerating the craft out of the collapsing house and through the ever-more turbulent atmosphere.

"Live well, my son." Jor-El whispered, staring at the shrinking dot, even as the ground shuddered, forcing them both to their knees.

"Live well, my beloved son." Lara whispered just before the ground opened up beneath them.

The probe soared off into space as the planet it had departed from trembled with ever-growing explosions and reactions. Soon, the surface of the planet seemed to fragment and shatter before exploding outwards, hurling all of it remaining mass towards the uncaring heavens.

Although the sensors of the probe noted the destruction, its control computer didn't care. All of its processing cycles were on the task it had been set.

To carry its precious cargo to a new world.

* * *

.

" _Borne to those who have thrice defied him…"_

"Where the hell's the healer?!" James Potter yelled. From the next room, his best friend Sirius Black shouted back, his voice showing that he was on the verge of panicking.

"The Floo's still down! Remus! What the hell's going on? Why haven't you got a Healer yet?"

" _I'm trying, but they're dealing with the aftermath of another Death Eater attack which almost carried into the hospital itself, the Aurors have the place on lockdown."_ Remus' voice echoed faintly through the mirror that Sirius was carrying. _"It's not helping that the Death Eaters managed to erect anti-Apparition and anti-Portkey wards around the hospital, I've been volunteered to help break them, but it'll take a few more minutes at the very least, they're_ very _strong wards. I'll try to get a Healer as soon as possible, but I'd be lying if I say it'll be quick."_

"Prongs…"

"I heard!" James shouted as Lily let out another howl of pain. "We _need_ a healer! Lily shouldn't be giving birth yet!"

"Wormtail!"

" _Albus isn't at Hogwarts and Poppy's away."_ Peter reported through the mirror. _"Hagrid said something about the Wizengamot, so I'm on my way, but with the Floo down…"_

James winced as Lily's grip on his hand tightened.

"It'll be all right, Lils." He said as soothingly as he could while mentally swearing vengeance against the Death Eater who had managed to hit Lily with a curse that he didn't recognize and which had caused her to go into premature labor. "We'll get someone here…"

Lily smiled briefly at him, then her face tightened as another contraction hit.

"Padfoot!"

"I know!" Sirius yelped from the door. "I've sent out three owls for help, but with the Floo out and the recent attacks… there's nothing I can do except try to keep in touch with the others!"

Lily groaned and James looked down.

"I see his head! He's coming out!"

"Oh, Merlin!" Sirius groaned, looking green as he retreated from the room. "What do I do? What do I… Aha!"

Sirius raced for the door as Lily screamed again.

.

Sirius wheeled his motorbike round to the front of the house.

"James, I'm going to use my bike to get a healer!"

Silence answered him and Sirius opened the front door, only to freeze as he heard Lily crying.

"No." He whispered, his eyes tearing up. "No… please, no."

Slumping against the door-jamb, he half-turned, just in time to see _something_ settle onto the lawn in front of him. Pulling the door almost closed behind him, Sirius slowly edged forwards to investigate the unknown item and distract himself from the tragedy he had been present for.

.

"Bloody hell!"

James looked up from where his wife lay, crying her heart out, the stillborn form of their son lying in a small conjured coffin on the table. A moment later, the front door slammed open Sirius scurried in with a wailing bundle in his arms.

"James!" He shouted. "A metal muggle thing landed in the garden despite the wards and it contained a small child!"

James blinked, then rose to his feet. Stepping to Sirius' side, he stared at the small, black-haired baby. The baby blinked at him and James looked over at his insensate wife.

"Sirius…" He whispered. "You remember when you told me about your mother's threat to blood-adopt someone else to take your place as heir after she killed you… do you remember the ritual?"

Sirius nodded slowly, then his eyes widened.

"But Lily…"

"I know, she won't accept it." James replied quietly as he pulled his wand out. "But she doesn't have to know. I'm sorry, Lils, but I'll need a bit of your blood. _Stupefy. Obliviate_."

Sirius moved over to the dead child and used his wand to remove some of the blood from the corpse.

"This just feels _so_ wrong." He sighed, not noticing that his control over the spell had slipped and a small bit of his blood was in the vial as well. "Well, let's do this before I come to my senses. James, put seven drops of your blood and Lily's in here, then we'll need a standard type-three ritual circle with two secondary foci as well as a silver goblet, a blood-replenishment potion and birthstones for you and Lily…"

* * *

.

" _Borne as the seventh month dies…"_

Lily leaned back on the sofa, nursing her son as James paced the room. With a contented sigh, Harry released her nipple and fell asleep.

As she adjusted her top, James gently placed Harry in his cot and Lily smiled at the tenderness that he showed. While it still bothered her that she still couldn't _remember_ actually giving birth to Harry, it didn't matter as her green-eyed year-old son was a healthy, happy toddler.

Rising, she paused as the Floo flared and a familiar head appeared.

"Albus?"

"Lily, James." Albus said and Lily's eyebrows shot up at his intense tone. "Thank Merlin I managed to reach you. I've already sent the Longbottoms into hiding and you need to hide as well!"

"What?" James asked in shock. "Why?"

* * *

.

" _And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…"_

"Aveda Kadavera!"

Voldemort scowled as he looked down at the body of the mudblood witch who had once come within an instant of killing him with a silent cutting curse. Stepping over her cooling corpse, he strode to the cot where the young Harry Potter was watching him.

"So, You are the one with the power to vanquish me." He sneered as he raised his wand, pausing as the glistening of blood on Harry's forehead caught his attention. "Hah! Once you die, I shall rule forever! _Aveda Kadavera_!"

As the curse flashed from Voldemort's wand, briefly lighting the room in a sickly shade of green, Voldemort briefly saw Harry's eyes seem to glow red, then suddenly everything was pain and he fell into darkness.

* * *

.

" _And either must die at the hand of the other…"_

Peter Pettigrew, former Marauder, traitor, Death Eater and spy for Voldemort, scuttled up the stairs and peeked into the room, his eyes widening in horrified shock as he saw his master falling, his body seeming to collapse and evaporate. Something hit his foot and he looked down to see Voldemort's wand resting against his toes. Scooping up the wand, he turned and ran down the stairs, completely failing to notice the unconscious but alive form of Harry Potter with a scar on his forehead.

A scar shaped like a lightning bolt.

Running to outside the anti-Apparition wards, Peter vanished, but not before Sirius Black spotted him.

"Peter?" Sirius shouted, then his gaze moved to the cottage with the broken door. "James? Lily? James! Lily!"

A thin wail was his only answer and Sirius hurled himself up the stairs and into the bedroom.

"Oh no, Lily!" He whispered, his eyes filling with tears, then he scooped Harry up from the cot.

"Come on, Prongslet, let's get you out of here." He murmured to the toddler.

"James? Lily?" A familiar voice called out and Sirius' eyes lit in recognition.

"Hagrid!" He shouted as he made his way to the front of the house where the half-giant was standing.

"What 'appened?" Hagrid asked and Sirius growled.

"Voldemort." He managed as he looked at his godson, then he made a decision. "Here, keys to my bike. Get Harry somewhere safe… take him to Hogwarts and get Poppy to check him over. I have some _business_ to take care of."

Hagrid carefully accepted the squirming toddler and smiled sadly down at him.

"'ello, 'arry." he rumbled gently. "I'm 'agrid."

Harry stared wide-eyed at the bushy-bearded man holding him and Sirius took one last look at them before turning on his heel and vanishing with a _crack_.

* * *

.

" _For neither can live while the other survives…"_

Petunia Dursley opened her front door to collect the morning milk, then she froze as she saw the basket on her doorstep. For a long minute, it failed to penetrate, then she screamed.

"Pet?"

Vernon thundered down the stairs and came to a halt, staring over Petunia's shoulder.

"Pet… what is that?"

Petunia reached down and picked up the note atop the basket with a trembling hand. Opening it, she whimpered.

"Pet?"

"My sister and her husband are dead…" Petunia whispered, "And that _bastard_ Dumbledore wants us to look after their freak of a son! Read the note!"

Vernon skimmed through it quickly with a speed and precision honed by his years of managerial duties and growled.

"They… they're _threatening_ us! If we don't keep this brat here, they'll attack us!"

Petunia nodded, then her expression firmed. "Then we'll keep _it_ , but I won't let it act freaky like _she_ did."

" _We_ won't let it." Vernon said, enfolding Petunia in a hug as he glared at the small boy sleeping in the basket. "We won't."

* * *

.

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be borne as the seventh month dies…"_

Albus sat in his chair and looked at the stacks of letters written to Harry Potter by the grateful wizarding world. With a regretful sigh, he Vanished the letters unread and leaned back, deep in thought.

He needed Harry to come to the Wizarding World without any preconceptions. The outlook of a Muggleborn combined with the prestige of an Ancient and Noble House could be just what he needed to re-start the renaissance of the Wizarding World. With his reputation established, Harry could lead them all into a new age, one free of the hatred and bigotry that had riven the Wizarding World.

And when the time came, Albus would be there to help him to learn the ways of the Light, of forgiveness, of second chances, of redemption.

It would be a new dawn, a new age.

Albus smiled, then turned his attention to the letters awaiting his replies, unaware that he had accidently Vanished a letter that had been sent from Gringotts as soon as the Potter's deaths had been confirmed and which stated who the _true_ secret keeper had been as well as a message inviting him to a meeting in which the two attendees would decide to imprison the one they believed was responsible for the deaths of Lily and James Potter.

Sirius Black.


	2. Growing Up

Harry smiled as he looked round at the dawn-lit neighborhood, even as he adjusted the now-empty canvas bag over his shoulder.

Unlike the other paper-boys who delivered the newspapers to certain houses around the town of Little Whinging, Harry had no trouble at all even with the Sunday Editions that he had been posting through the letterboxes. The other boys would grumble about the weight, but Harry was more than strong enough to effortlessly cart around several times that which he was paid to deliver.

His strength had begun to grow once he had turned five. By the time he was six, he was able to lift up Vernon Dursley's car (one side, at least) and he had also become very, _very_ tough. In fact, one time his aunt Petunia had tried to hit him with a frying pan. Admittedly, she had been having a _very_ bad day with quite a bit of the neighborhood gossip putting her in a bad light while Dudley threw a series of tantrums that had the neighbors tutting in disapproval, but when Harry, in a fit of childish rebellion, had returned Dudley's angry punch and knocked him to the ground, Petunia had swung at him with the first thing she could find.

The pan had soon ended up in the bin since the impression of Harry's face in it made it almost impossible to use for cooking while it took an hour for Petunia to regain the ability to grip things.

Dudley had been so shocked by it that he hadn't tried anything else against Harry for a full week.

The next sign of him being different from everyone else was when he found that he could see and hear things that others simply couldn't perceive. The auras of body temperature, the glimpses of their internal organs, the differing heartbeats that allowed him to identify people _and_ work out their emotional state… If not for the fact that Harry had been conditioned to keep quiet about his differences by the semi-panicking Dursleys, he might have mentioned it. Instead, he simply went to the library and read about human biology so that he could understand what he was seeing. It was then that he discovered that his healing was far faster than normal since apparently cuts should take several days to fully heal whereas _he_ healed from scrapes and bruises within an hour or two.

Less, if it was a sunny day.

On the morning of his eighth birthday, he had queried why he had to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs whereas Dudley got _two_ bedrooms. Vernon had puffed up with indignation and slammed the back door on him, only for a single irritated punch from Harry to shatter the door, making it useless for anything except kindling.

That afternoon, Harry and Dudley were assigned to clear out Dudley' second bedroom (which was the smallest one in the house) and neatly pack the toys away under Petunia's direction while Vernon visited B&Q to get a new back door and a cheap bed for Harry to sleep on.

Harry had made a point of helping Vernon with the replacement door as his strength meant that he could seat the screws better, cutting out the slight wobble of the previous door which Vernon had never actually managed to solve.

During Harry's ninth year, a nearby newsagent had advertised for local paper-boys and Harry had struck a deal with Vernon. Harry would be allowed to take on the job of delivering papers in exchange for half his wage going to the Dursleys. Harry didn't mind since it would still give him money to spend on himself, something that he had never had before.

It was during his first week that he discovered that not only could he run very fast, he could also leap a full five meters into the air. _That_ discovery had been due to a dog lunging at him. The next day, the dog had caught him by surprise and broken six of its teeth trying to bite him. Harry hadn't mentioned it to anyone, but the owner had been forced to spend a great deal of money on vets bills and the dog had since refused to go anywhere near Harry.

"Hello, Harry." The Newsagent smiled as Harry trotted up. "You are being very fast again. You are being the best boy I am having working for me."

"Thank you, Mr. Kalwar." Herry replied as he unslung his (empty) bag, then he glanced at the remaining pile of newspapers on the long counter. "Malcom not show up again?"

"That boy, always not liking to be working. I am seeing him hanging out at the local park with other delinquents." Mr. Kalwar sighed. "If not for the fact his father is being leader of the town council, I would be firing him for laziness."

"I'll do it for you." Harry volunteered as he put the bag in place and carefully half-lifted, half-slid the papers into it.

"The papers are being sorted into order for delivering, here is the sheet." Mr Kalwar smiled, passing over a computer print-out. "You are receiving bonus for this."

"Thanks, Mr. Kalwar!" Harry grinned as he re-slung the bag on his shoulder, checked the first address and jogged out of the shop.

.

Harry slipped into his home as quietly as possible, his ears picking up the clink of cutlery from the kitchen as the other three members of the household had breakfast. Removing his shoes, he quickly scurried up the stairs and, pausing only to grab his towel (which he really needed to replace, it was getting so threadbare that it was on the verge of becoming a net), he darted into the bathroom and switched on the shower.

Even though he didn't work up a sweat delivering papers, Harry preferred to make certain that he was clean, expecially since the day he had been staring at his hand during a really boring class and his vision had shown him the dirt and bacteria on his fingers.

It had taken several days to recover from the shock and realize that it was actually normal.

While he would have liked to take his time in the shower, if he took more than a couple of minutes, Petunia would start complaining about how he was wasting gas, so he scrubbed himself down, then rinsed himself off before shutting off the water. Before pulling back the shower curtain, he shook himself as fast as he could, sending most of the water splattering onto the tiles and curtain, then he stepped out and wrapped the towel around himself before heading to his room to finish drying and get dressed.

"Hurry up!" Petunia called up the stairs. "It's Dudders' birthday and I won't have you lollygagging around!"

Harry sighed as he pulled out a small package from his rather battered wardrobe (which he had brought for a fiver the previous year from a house-clearance. It had been a shame, Mr Swithins had been a very nice man who left a big tip at Christmas and always had a joke or two to share whenever they met). Checking that the tag was still attached, Harry finished getting dressed and walked down the stairs to join the Dursleys.

"How many presents do I have?" Dudley was asking gleefully as Harry entered the living room, sighing at the sight of all the presents piled high against one wall.

"Thirty-eigh…" Vernon started, then Harry coughed.

"Thirty- _nine_. Counted 'em meself!" Vernon corrected himself as Harry passed the package to Petunia who placed it on the pile as Dudley glanced at his father.

"The same as last year." Dudley said slowly with slight frown, then he grinned. "Okay!"

"Go on, open them." Vernon grinned, relieved at having avoided another tantrum and Dudley lunged forwards, grabbing the biggest present and ripping the paper off to reveal that it was a racing bike.

Harry raised a mental eyebrow at that since his cousin hated exercise, unless it was trying to bully those smaller than him.

"What did you get him?" Petunia whispered as Dudley ripped open his second present with a shrill squeal of glee.

"A variety box of mini chocolate bars." Harry replied just as quietly and Petunia nodded in unwilling approval. "Do you still need me here or is there anything that needs doing?"

"The lawn needs mowing." Petunia commented and Harry left the living room (and the ear-shattering whoops of joy) and walked through the kitchen and to the shed. Pulling out the unpowered mower, he wheeled it round to the front garden, then paused as he decided to give in to temptation.

Looking round to check that no-one was watching, he hooked his fingers under the side of Vernon's car and then straightened, before lowering it back down, smirking at how much easier it was to lift than it had been even six months ago.

He still had no idea how he was getting powers like that, but he wasn't going to complain.

.

After finishing mowing both the front and back lawns, Harry lifted the mower in one hand to place it back in the shed, then he paused in the middle of locking the door as his ears picked up a familiar voice complaining.

" _But I_ don't _want him along! He'll spoil everything!"_

" _Mrs Figg's in hospital, so she can't take him."_ Petunia complained. _"And there's no way I'll let him stay here on his own."_

" _He'll try to steal my presents!"_ Dudley whinged, causing Harry to glower briefly. _"He's already stolen my second bedroom, I barely have any space of my own!"_

"Maybe if you _picked up_ after yourself, you would." Harry grumbled as he finished locking the shed and walked over to the back door. Letting himself in and pausing only long enough to take off his trainers (noting that he needed to go to a charity shop soon to find a new pair), he walked through to the living room.

"I overheard." He said, cutting off the conversation (and Dudley's imminent meltdown). "Since it is Dudley's birthday and he doesn't want me around, not that I mind, I'll take a bag and go out for the day… probably to the park. I'll get something to eat from the newsagents and I'll return about… five?"

"Better make it six." Petunia stated, giving Vernon a glance. "And come in the back door."

Harry nodded and turned to go up the stairs.

He was only half-way through the library book he was reading and he _really_ wanted to see how it ended.

.

Harry was just sitting down on the park bench when Vernon's car roared past. In the back, Dudley and his friend Piers made insulting finger-motions at him, but Harry simply noted that they were leaving before pulling out the book he was reading, then dropping his bag on the floor.

_~Ah! That nearly hit me!~_

Harry froze, then slowly leaned sideways and looked down. Just beside his bag, a grass-snake looked back up at him.

"Did… you just talk?"

 _~Ah! A Speaker!~_ The snake gasped. _~It's a Speaker!~_

Harry stared at the surprisingly loquacious snake for a long moment. "…speaker?"

 _~One who speaks to snakes, of course.~_ The serpent replied in a tone that made it clear that it thought that it was Harry who was being an idiot. _~What did you think I meant?~_

"I'm not sure." Harry shrugged, feeling rather bemused. "Huh, this does explain some of the things I heard when I was gardening, though. I had thought it was my imagination… or me hearing picking up people I couldn't see. Thanks."

 _~You're welcome.~_ The snake replied with a flex that looked rather like a shrug, despite its lack of shoulders. _~I need to go, there are tasty frogs at the pond!~_

"Enjoy." Harry said with a wave, then he shook his head. "Talking to snakes. What on earth is going to happen next?"


	3. The Letter

Harry hid a smirk as he walked back home after delivering the papers. It had been almost a week since Dudley's birthday and already most of his cousin's presents were either broken or non-functional. The wheels of the Racing Bike had bent when Dudley had tried to use it like a BMX, although the fact that he had managed to pick up enough speed on it to go (briefly) airborne from the small ramp was still something that Harry found hard to believe.

The chocolates that Harry had got for his cousin had all been eaten and Mr. Kalwar had mentioned off-hand that Vernon had popped in and almost emptied the entire shelf on Dudley's behalf.

_-Hwooo!_

Harry looked up as a bird flew overhead and blinked at the sight of the rolled-up letter in its talons. The bird circled him before coming down to land, clutching the letter in one taloned foot while it grasped the low-hanging branch with the other.

_-Hwoooo._

Harry looked at the proffered letter, then slowly reached out for it, trusting in his toughness to protect him should the bird decide to attack. However, the owl simply relinquished the letter to him.

"Thank you." Harry said absently, unrolling the envelope to reveal the wax seal holding it closed. The seal was embossed with a quartered shield, each part of which had a different animal on it while an ornate letter H was centered on the whole thing.

Shrugging, Harry moved to lean against the tree while he cracked the seal and pulled out the sheets within. Opening it up (and mentally noting that the letter wasn't made of paper but what actually seemed to be parchment), Harry began to read.

* * *

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_ _of_ _WITCHCRAFT_ _and_ _WIZARDRY  
_ _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
_ _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Harry Potter_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
_ _Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

* * *

_._

* * *

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_ _of_ _WITCHCRAFT_ _and_ _WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_

_First-year students will require:_

_1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
_ _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
_ _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
_ _4\. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ by _Miranda Goshawk  
_ _A History of Magic_ by _Bathilda Bagshot  
_ _Magical Theory_ by _Adalbert Waffling  
_ _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ by _Emeric Switch  
_ _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by _Phyllida Spore  
_ _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by _Arsenius Jigger  
_ _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by _Newt Scamander  
_ _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by _Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1_ _wand  
_ _1_ _cauldron_ _(pewter, standard size 2)  
_ _1 set glass or crystal phials  
_ _1_ _telescope  
_ _1 set_ _brass scales_

_Students may also bring, if they desire, an_ _owl_ _OR a_ _cat_ _OR a_ _toad_ _._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN_ _BROOMSTICK_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus_

_Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions_

* * *

Harry stared at the letter in surprise.

Magic.

Well, that explained a lot.

Tucking the letter into his pocket, Harry started towards his house and paused at the sight of the owl still seated on a branch.

"Wait a moment, please. I'll have a letter for you soon."

The owl nodded again and Harry jogged the rest of the way home, the owl following him until he got to the door. Running up to his room, he quickly started to write on a sheet of paper.

* * *

_Deputy Headmistress McGonogall_

_Although I would like to enroll in your school, I cannot since my current financial status means that even if I knew where to purchase the items required, I cannot afford them at this time.  
_ _Unless my situation changes, I must respectfully decline your invitation._

_Yours,_

_Harry Potter._

* * *

"That should get their attention." Harry smirked, folding up the letter. Walking outside, he found the owl waiting on the fence. As he approached, it stuck one foot out and Harry quickly tied the letter to its leg.

"Please take this to the Deputy Headmistress." Harry said and the owl nodded once more before flying off. Harry watched it shrink, then frowned as it seemed to blur away.

"Huh, that was odd." He mused, then he shrugged. He still needed to grab some breakfast, then he had quite a bit of weeding to catch up on.

.

Minerva McGonogall looked up as the owl fluttered in through the open window and landed on the perch near her desk, a perch that had been installed at her request for moments such as this.

"Minnie?" A voice called as Minerva untied the letter and the Deputy Headmistress waved absently for the diminutive charms Professor to enter.

"I was passing and I heard the owl come in." Filius explained as he pulled himself up into the chair. "So, who is the letter from?"

"Well," Minerva began as she unrolled the sheet of paper, "His handwriting isn't all that good, but it's from… it's from Harry Potter!"

"Oh, excellent!" Filius cheered, clapping his hands. "I do hope he takes after Lily, she was an absolute joy to teach and so quick-witted in class… Minnie? What's wrong?"

Minerva stared white-faced, almost glaring, at the sheet of paper in her hand. Realizing that she wasn't going to answer any time soon, Filius whipped out his wand and performed a brief charm, causing a copy of the letter to appear and float to the desk.

"Well now, let's see." He mused as he picked up the copy and scanned it. "Oh my! That isn't right."

"He… he _has_ to attend!" Minerva whispered and Filius nodded firmly as he dispelled the copy.

"If he is worried about his finances, then who better to explain them to him than a Goblin?" He asked self-deprecatingly. "I can take the Knight Bus to… _where_ is he, by the way?"

"Little Whinging, 4 Privet drive." Minerva replied absently. "I _told_ Albus he shouldn't have been placed with them… Oooh, that man!"

"MINNIE!"

McGonogall jumped in her seat. "Yes?"

" _I_ will go to him and help him sort out his financial troubles." Filius repeated. "With me to translate, I am certain that he and I can get the situation at Gringotts sorted quickly."

"Oh, I… um, alright." Minerva managed as she fought to bring her emotions back under her control. "Thank you… do you need any money for the bus?"

"My relatives would disown me if I didn't always carry money on me." Filius chuckled. "I'm certain that I can afford a simple bus ride."

.

Filius debarked from the bus and frowned in concentration. Although he could detect wards at the location he intended to go, his goblin senses almost screamed at him that the wards were under-powered and incomplete.

Furthermore, the magical signature was very familiar.

"Albus." He muttered. "How could you mess up that badly… _Blood_ wards? Dash it all, Albus, there's a _reason_ that they were abandoned centuries ago. Oh well, at least my heritage means they won't be able to affect me. So, Mr. Potter, let's see how you've grown since the day you fell asleep while hugging my leg…"

.

"Mr Potter?"

Harry glanced up from the weeding and blinked at the sight of the small man stood before him.

"Yes?"

"I am Professor Filius Flitwick from Hogwarts." The short man replied with a wide smile. "After your letter reached us, I volunteered to come and introduce you back to the magical world."

"And if I don't have any money, it doesn't matter." Harry pointed out, causing Filius to tilt his head inquisitively.

"No money? Mr Potter, even though the Potter Family Vault is still closed to you…"

"The what?" Harry interrupted and Filius paused, obviously re-thinking his plans for the conversation.

"Mr Potter… what exactly do you know about your parents?"

"Not much." Harry shrugged. "And most of that from Aunt Marge. She claimed my dad was unemployed…"

"Technically correct, James was wealthy enough not to need to work." Filius interjected.

"…and that mum was a scarlet woman… whatever _that_ means."

Filius took a jagged breath. "Somehow, I do not believe that she was talking about Lily's hair."

"My parents names were James and Lily?" Harry asked eagerly and Filius closed his eyes.

"Damn you, Albus. Damn you to the Pits of Poverty! _How_ could you leave Lily's son _here_?"

For a long moment, he stood motionless, then he exhaled sharply.

"Mr. Potter, as I said, I am from Hogwarts and I came here to help you, but it seems that you need more help than I had planned. Fortunately, I have several relatives at Gringotts who owe me favors, so I can do more to aid you than any of the other professors. May I help you with the weeding, then we can depart for Diagon Alley."

Harry nodded and Filius waved his hand, causing a stick to appear in it.

"This, Mr. Potter..."

"You can call me Harry, if you want." Harry offered and Filius grinned at him.

"And you can call me Uncle Fil outside class. Lily was one of my favorite students and after you were born, she made a point of inviting me over to Potter Manor to meet you just before you all went into hiding… I'll tell you about it at lunch, if you wish. For now, though…"

Harry watched wide-eyed as Filius swished his wand through a series of loops, flicks and zig-zags before finishing with an upwards flick. " _Accusatabiit_!"

Across the garden, the weeds uprooted themselves and flew over the top of the house.

"There we go." Filius said smugly, the stick vanishing again, "All done and on the compost pile."

"What was that word?" Harry asked curiously and Filius looked approvingly at him.

"That particular spell has a latin root. The expanded version translates as _unwanted plants be gone_ but by using my wand as I did, I could use the shortened version."

"Useful." Harry grinned. "Let me grab my bag and I'll be right with you."

Filius waited as Harry raced into the house, then came out again, slinging a battered rucksack over his shoulder.

"I can see we'll have to get you a new wardrobe." He commented and Harry flinched slightly.

"I… it wouldn't be a good idea to let my relatives know that I have money… it could prove… difficult."

"I see." Filius mused, frowning slightly. "Well, let's see if we can solve that. For now, though, I believe that transport is required, so…"

Filius held out his hand, the stick present once again and the tip of it lit up. An instant later, there was a loud _Bang_ and a _three_ -decker purple bus appeared out of nowhere.

"Welcome to the Knight bu… Professor!"

"Hello again, Stanley." Filius said warmly. "Two to Diagon, please."

"What on earth?" Harry asked, bemused.

.

"Thank god! Solid ground!" Harry gasped as he half-stepped, half-fell from the bus and a chuckling Flitwick followed him with far more grace.

"Many people react to the Knight Bus that way, but it's an unavoidable side-effect of the charms used in its construction." Filius explained as he helped Harry up from his knees. "Now, this is the Leaky Cauldron and through it is Diagon Alley. Keep your head down and we should be able to get through without being mobbed. I'm afraid that you are quite a famous person in our world."

"I am?" Harry asked as he followed the half-goblin through the door and into the old-style pub.

"You are." Filius confirmed. "Now, let's head through and… here we are."

"It's a wall." Harry deadpanned, causing Filius to chuckle.

"Indeed it is, but if I do _this_ …"

Filius tapped his wand against a brick that looked slightly _off_ to Harry and the wall seemed to shiver before the bricks began folding themselves outwards to form an archway through which a winding street could be seen, one lined with small shops and populated by robed people moving from one intriguing store to another.

"Welcome," Flitwick proclaimed, "To Diagon Alley!"


	4. Diagon Alley

" _Welcome," Flitwick proclaimed, "To Diagon Alley!"_

"Wow." Harry breathed as he followed Flitwick through the archway, barely noticing as it closed up behind them. "This is _amazing_!"

"Indeed it is." Filius confirmed as he led the way through the crowds. "And up ahead, you will see Gringotts. The white marble building."

Harry frowned. "It looks almost like it's about to fall over, with the pillars angled like that."

Filius froze as he stared at the front of the bank. "Huh. I never thought about that before… Now that you mention it…"

The duo looked at the angled pillars before Filius shook himself. "I assure you that it is safe, magical buildings are constructed with special runes that hold the frame of the building absolutely immobile. Why, I've seen _tents_ created on a rope frame, so once the rope is magically charged, it straightens and pulls the tent up into whatever shape the owner asked for. Of course, sometimes they need sticking charms as well to stop them falling over in a high wind."

Harry smirked at the mental image of a tent rolling along as a dozen panicking wizards chased it, then he was at the doors of the bank.

"What the…" He started as the odd runes embossed on the large doors writhed into something that he could read.

" _Enter, stranger, but take heed / Of what awaits the sin of greed  
_ " _For those who take, but do not earn, / Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
_ " _So if you seek beneath our floors / A treasure that was never yours,  
_ " _Thief, you have been warned, beware / Of finding more than treasure there._

"Is that a translation of what it said before it changed, or is it different in each language so that it rhymes?"

"Very good." Filius congratulated him. "If translated directly from _Grikzalkr_ , it goes…

" _The gold that lies in goblins care / safely resides  
_ " _Guarded by honor / growing for the reputation of the clans  
_ " _To betray our trust / brings the blade of death  
_ " _We guard the wealth of the arrogant walking roasts / yet if they steal, we shall feast._ "

"That is… a _very_ different poem." Harry said, feeling somewhat shaken. "…walking roasts… do I want to know?"

"Just keep polite, civil and don't try to waste their time." Filius offered. "You'll do fine. Now, here's your Vault Key, Dumbledore had been holding it for you. Keep it on you at all times, unless a Goblin needs it to prove your identity or open the vault. Understand?"

Harry nodded and Filius resumed walking, Harry following him and looking round at the hall they had entered, a hall somehow slightly taller and wider than the building was from the outside.

"This way." Filius prompted and Harry followed him to a desk where a Goblin was perched on a stool, writing something in an open folder. After a moment, the Goblin put his quill down and looked at Flitwick who snarled something complex at him. For several moments, the two of them exchanged words that Harry couldn't understand, then the Goblin got off his stool and walked off.

"…erm, Uncle Fil?" Harry prompted.

"The Potters have a Financial Manager." Filius explained. "They needed one to help run their start-up company, Jasmine Potions. Your mother was a supreme Potions Mistress with an almost uncanny skill in developing new products. Before they… passed away, she had created no less than _three_ new potions and licensed them out. Even your grandfather, Fleamont Potter, only managed one completely new potion, although he did improve five others, making them easier to brew or more effective."

Harry mentally filed away the new knowledge. "How should I behave? Any special greetings I should know or things I need to avoid?"

"Don't say anything about gold flowing unless you specify the direction." Filius warned as the Goblin who had been behind the desk re-appeared. "One muggleborn said that Goblins are Ferengi with a Klingon's love of honorable combat and after watching several episodes, I agreed. Here we go."

Harry trailed behind Filius as he marched through the door that the Goblin was holding open. Walking down the corridor (which had windowed offices on both sides), he paused at a door on which a series of runes were inscribed, runes which shifted into the name _Potter_ as Harry looked at them. Knocking at the door, he opened it at a shout of "Enter!"

"Axefist, may your enemies run in fear of your name." He said as he walked in. The Goblin behind the large desk finished closing several folders before giving Filius a smirk.

"Wandfighter, may your fame increase. Ah, this must be Harry Potter. Welcome to Gringotts."

"Axefist." Harry replied, hiding his nervousness. "May your vaults fill with your enemies gold."

Axefist stared at him for a moment before chuckling. "So, you been training him in goblin etiquette?"

"Not me." Flitwick protested. "But that _was_ a good greeting. How did you come up with it?"

"I've read quite a few Star Trek books in the library." Harry admitted. "When you mentioned Ferengi and Klingons…"

"He's quick." Axefist growled in admiration. "So, you've decided to come and see me about your family fortune. I'm sure you have questions, despite the quarterly statements I've sent you."

Harry froze, causing both adults to look at him with curiosity. "I… I've never received _any_ letters from anyone in the magical world. I didn't even know it existed until Professor Flitwick came to visit me."

Axefist snarled. " _Someone_ has been intercepting the letters, not that it would do them any good. They were security-sealed."

Seeing Harry's perplexed expression, Flitwick offered an explanation. "If they are opened by anyone other than the recipient or go unopened for over a month after arriving, they burst into flames and turn into ash, usually damaging anything around them."

Harry blinked several times. "Any idea _why_ I didn't receive any letters?"

"Probably a Mail Ward." Filius mused. "Axefist, after this meeting, I think Harry will want to hire the services of the Cursebreakers and their medical auxiliary for a full check-up."

"I'll see to it." Axefist growled, then he opened a folder and pushed it across. "So, let's get to your assets. Vault 686 contains the items placed in storage from The Pottery as well as items collected from the cottage in Godric's Hollow. For your money, you have Vault 687 which contains as of three days ago, one-hundred and seventy-three thousand, eight hundred and forty-one Galleons, six-thousand, five-hundred and twelve sickles and seven hundred and nine knuts. If we total it up, that comes to a hundred and seventy-four thousand, two-hundred and twenty-five galleons, eight sickles and thirteen knuts. Congratulations, Mr Potter, you are quite a wealthy man, especially with the licensing payments from the potions still coming in. Should you wish, you will never have to work again for the rest of your life."

Axefist paused for a long moment to let the totals sink in, then frowned slightly at Harry's confusion.

"And how much is that in pounds?"

"At the current exchange rate, about three quarters of a million." Flitwick supplied. "However, you have to remember that living costs, including taxes, are far lower in the magical world. Our nation actually numbers less than a mid-sized town in the Muggle world, there are currently less than forty-thousand magicals in the United Kingdom, so there is less need for large amounts of money. The Malfoys have almost a million galleons, last I heard, which means they control almost a tenth of the cash in circulation."

"And they don't even let us make it work for them." Axefist growled, then he collected himself. "As for your family's assets _outside_ Gringotts, they're on this sheet here."

"I don't see Godric's Hollow cottage listed." Filius said as he looked at the list from beside Harry.

"The Ministry claimed it as a heritage site." Axefist explained with a sneer. "They only paid one Galleon for it. They tried to claim everything inside it as well, but Mrs Bagshot raised a stink about it and insisted on moving everything to the Potter vault."

"She was a friend of your parents." Filius noted quietly.

"What was the Pottery?"

"Where your parents lived, the ancestral home of the Potters." Filius supplied. "Your grandfather Fleamont and his cousin Charlus grew up there, but after finishing Hogwarts, Charlus decided to move abroad and when Fleamont died, so did the knowledge of how to contact him. There was a report that he had died from Dragon Pox, but we were unable to get verification."

"And the house?"

"It was burned to the foundations by the followers of You-Know-Who." The Goblin stated. "Your father had already moved everything into the vault, though."

"Are there any other places my family owns… or owned?" Harry asked curiously. "I'd really like to have a place of my own to live. I don't really have much to do with the Dursleys these days, and I think all of us prefer it that way."

"No other properties are listed." Axefist declared after scanning the list.

"I'd like to see the Pottery, though." Harry decided. "Do I have enough money to have it rebuilt?"

"Oh, at least four times over." Filius laughed. "Once we do the shopping, I'll be happy to escort you there. Axefist, I need to get Mr. Potter equipped for Hogwarts, can we schedule another meeting at, say, three?"

Axefist nodded, then spat out a question in the Goblin's language. Filius looked surprised, then he grinned and replied. For a few minutes, the two of them exchanged sharp sentences, then Filius nodded.

"I will walk him through it once we've done the shopping. May your blade be whetted by the blood of your foes."

"And may your wand claim the lives of those who stand against you." Axefist replied as Filius rose from his seat, Harry quickly following suit. "And you, Mr. Potter, may you find victory in the future."

"May all your dreams, bar one, come true." Harry replied and Axeblade looked puzzled for a moment before grinning widely.

"Oh, I _like_ that one."

"Feel free to use it." Harry smiled.

Filius chivied Harry out of the office, then looked up at him quizzically.

"All your dreams _bar one_?"

"It's from a story I read several years ago. If _all_ your dreams come true, you have nothing left to reach for." Harry explained.

"How very Ravenclaw of you." Filius chortled. "Now, let's start by getting your money, then a trunk. I'd recommend a multi-compartment one with inbuilt shrinking charms… and maybe we can get a wizarding tent for you if you don't want to have to return to your relative's house… or maybe we should go for a travel-trunk…"

.

"…and finally, the wand. " Filius said as he waved Harry into the dusty shop. Harry took two steps in, then turned to face the heartbeat he could hear.

"Hello?"

"How very curious." An elderly man said as he seemed to fade into view. "You are only the second person to do that to me… although given who is escorting you, I should not be surprised."

"Harry Potter, be known to Wandsmith Garrick Ollivander." Filius said formally. "Ollivander…"

"I know." Ollivander said as he stepped forwards jerkily, circling the suddenly-concerned Harry. "I remember your parents. Your mother, well, it seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work. Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Ollivander broke off and scurried to behind the counter. "Well!" He said gleefully. "Let's find out which wand will choose you. Which hand is your wand-hand?"

Harry slowly raised his right hand and a tape-measure flew out. Harry reflexively grabbed it, earning a raised eyebrow from both Ollivander and Filius.

"Good reflexes." Filius nodded. "At the very least, I'd say you have potential a a duellist."

"Yes, well, if you can let go of my tape, we can get on with it." Ollivander grumped. "Harrumph!"

.

"That was… different." Harry said as they left the store. "Thanks for suggesting the wrist-holster."

"It's an invaluable tool for any duellist." Flitwick said, waving his hand so that his wand flew out of his sleeve and into his grasp, then he flexed his wrist to send the wand back into the concealed holster. "I would advise practicing with it until it becomes second nature."

"I will." Harry promised, then he frowned. "I had hoped to see where the Pottery was, but I've got a paper round to do tomorrow… which means I still need to return to Little Whinging after the afternoon's meeting."

"Well, I'm sure you can use the trunk, just remember to tap the inner lock-plate to activate the concealment charms and take the key into the trunk with you, you don't want to risk getting locked in by accident."

"Thanks, uncle Fil." Harry smiled as they turned towards Gringotts. "Well, this should be interesting."

"I expect it will." Filius smirked. "I expect it will. Now, we have just enough time to get you an owl, which you will find most useful for communication…"


	5. Changes

Minerva McGonogall looked curiously at Flitwick. Although she could normally judge his moods with a very high degree of accuracy, he seemed to be harder to decipher this time. The normal tells for a heavily-controlled rage bordering on the berserk seemed to be mingled with aggrieved triumph and a _very_ dark amusement.

"That took you a lot longer than I expected, Filius. Is Mr Potter coming, then?" She finally asked and Filius nodded.

"He is, although he knew _nothing_ about his parents! Less than nothing! I was tempted to use my dueling experience on those Morgana-damned relatives of his!"

Minerva swallowed and mentally thanked all the gods that his rage wasn't directed at her.

"He was raised to believe that James Potter was a drunken layabout and Lily was a _whore_!" Filius snarled and Minerva froze as a wave of fury washed through her. "He didn't even know their names!"

"Merlin…" Minerva breathed, then she saw Filius grin slightly. "What did you do?"

"You remember that the Wizengamot awarded him the Order of Merlin for the Dark Lord's death?" Filius asked and Minerva nodded, uncertain as to where he was heading with his comment. "Since he has the Order of Merlin, I _advised_ him that he should use one of the advantages it brings."

"What did you _do_?" Minerva whispered, then she spun round as Albus slammed the door open.

"Minerva! We need to go! Something's happened and the wards that protect young Harry have collapsed!"

As Albus vanished, Filius laughed. "It's too late. He's already been confirmed as Lord Potter by Gringotts. He's the youngest Emancipated Wizard in the history of the Wizarding World."

Minerva blinked, then scurried after Albus. He needed to know that Harry Potter had taken up his title.

* * *

.

"I am being saddened that you are stopping your job." Mr Kalwar sighed. "You are doing the work of three, maybe _four_ boys."

"Well, I have a chance to attend the boarding school my parents did, with some of the teachers who taught them, and this way I can learn more about them." Harry supplied.

"Ah, knowing of your family is being very important. And I am thanking you for giving me three weeks warning." Mr. Kalwar smiled. "I am already putting the sign out for new paperboys."

"I'll be happy to show them the routes." Harry offered and his employer beamed at him.

"Even when you are stopping working for me, you are being a _fantastic_ paperboy."

* * *

.

Harry darted into the small copse of trees and rummaged in the pocket of his coat, pulling out a small trunk. Placing it on the ground, he tapped it with his wand, causing it to expand, then he opened it up and climbed down the ladder into a large room almost five meters on a side and illuminated by glowing orbs in the corners.

"Best thousand Galleons ever spent." Harry smirked as he moved to the door that led to the kitchen. "I wonder how Vernon and Petunia reacted to my letter? They're probably celebrating even now."

.

"But I _don't_ wanna move!" Dudley protested.

"Without the freak here, he won't power the wards that keep all the _other_ freaks away." Petunia explained for what seemed like the fiftieth time. "If we don't move, they'll be able to find us and…"

"And _discuss_ what you did to cause him to run away." A new voice said, causing Petunia to pale as she spun towards the now-open front door and the elderly bearded man clad in a purple suit standing in it.

"You!" She gasped. "Haven't you done enough to us, foisting that brat on us and forcing us to pay for him?"

"I set up a vault for you at Gringotts." Albus countered. "I told you that in the letter I left."

"And how could I _get_ to it? Did you even think about that?" Petunia screeched. "Unlike _her_ , I don't _have_ magic, remember?"

Albus opened his mouth, then paused.

"Bloody wizards." Petunia sneered. "Magic must take away all common sense."

Albus sighed. "I see. I'll arrange for it to be transferred to you."

"And the wards?" Petunia pressed.

"Gone beyond all hope of recovery." Albus admitted sadly. "In fact, the fragments that remain would need to be removed before any new wards can be erected."

"So now we're vulnerable to all those murderers in _your_ world." Petunia snapped. "We are _moving_ and you are _not_ to try and find us."

"I understand." Albus sighed as he turned to leave. "I have caused you enough problems, I shall cause no more. I will send you the money within the hour, then you shall never see me again."

Petunia glared at his departing form, then turned to Vernon.

"Isn't one of your golfing friends an estate agent?"

Vernon's eyes lit up. "Yep, I'll call him now."

* * *

.

Harry paused in the dawn-light, staring at the _For Sale_ sign planted in the garden of the house that he had called home prior to his (re)-introduction to the magical world. The curtains in the window had vanished, as had the car that had been parked outside.

"Huh." He finally managed. "Wha…?"

The quiet morning offered no answers and Harry finally continued on his rounds. Although he wouldn't miss his relatives, he did wonder what had happened to them.

Maybe he'd ask Axefist when they met this afternoon at what was once The Pottery.

Putting his thoughts to one side, he continued his rounds.

* * *

.

"Mr. Potter, welcome to Stinchcombe."

"Thank you, Axefist." Harry replied as he stepped out of the Knight Bus. "May your enemies gold flow into your clan's vaults."

"And may you stand victorious on the corpses of your foes." Axeblade replied while behind Harry, the Knight Bus vanished with another _bang_.

"So, just up this lane is where your family home was." Axefist stated. "Only the foundation and cellar remain intact, but it's still fairly solid. The builders should be able to have it fully rebuilt before the Hogwarts Christmas break."

"Nice." Harry said as they rounded the corner and Harry found himself atop a slight rise leading down to a collection of tumbled walls and deep holes. "Is… that…"

"It is." Axefist agreed. "One central tower and two small wings."

"Did it start out _as_ a pottery?" Harry asked and Axefist shook his head.

"No, it started out as the home of Linfred the Potterer, a potions inventor and local remedy-maker in the twelfth century. His eldest son took the family name Potter in his honor and the Pottery has been here ever since."

Harry looked at the wreckage, his mind's eye rebuilding the ancient house.

"Do you have the plans for it?"

Axefist nodded and held out a small granite slab edged in gold. A stroke of the finger activated it and a small, semi-transparent image rose from the stone face.

"That's… impressive." Harry managed. "Looks good… is there a floor-plan option?"

Axeblade tapped one of the runic labels and the external walls of the image vanished. Harry leaned in for a closer look.

"The bathrooms… no showers?"

"We can add showers easily." Axefist shrugged and Harry frowned in thought.

"Can you have the bathrooms waterproofed, with drains in the corners to take away the water… maybe have the floor _very_ slightly angled to make it flow away easier? A bath in one corner… preferably a recessed bath, I've seen them in a magazine and since then, I've wanted one…"

"Ah, a _wetroom_ , as the muggles call it." Axeblade said in recognition as he pulled up several tags, then selected one. "We have those in many of our clan-caverns. Easily done. And the sunken bath won't be an issue."

Harry nodded in satisfaction.

"Can you make the windows bigger? _Lots_ bigger? In fact… see if you can replace the upstairs walls with windows and put big windows downstairs. Oh, and skylights in the roof. I want as much natural light as possible. In fact, change the roofs of the wings so they're also balconies."

"Of course." Axeblade agreed as he tapped several parts of the tablet, making the requested changes as Harry continued to brainstorm until he was finally satisfied with the updated plans.

"Can your people begin the day _after_ I head to Hogwarts?"

"That should not be a problem, we'll need a few weeks to get the basalt for that special room." Axeblade said. "Anything else?"

"If there is, I'll send Grace with a message asking for a meeting." Harry said, nodding to the nearby tree where his white owl was sat, watching them.

"Then may you face your foes with a sword in your hand and allies at your back."

"May your gold and reputation increase beyond that of any other goblin." Harry replied, causing Axeblade to grin before he vanished in a swirl of magic. "Wow, I'm going to have to try to come up with more greetings. It's quite exhausting, making them up like that."

Grace simply cocked her head slightly, then tucked herself down as she prepared to go to sleep.

"Well, time to check the foundations." Harry muttered to himself as he strode forwards, looking at the scorched brickwork and the fragments of broken rafters that had once been the home of his family and where he had been born. With a sigh, he turned and…  
…what was that?

Harry blinked, then focused on seeing through the ground again. In what looked like a secret basement at the end of one of the wings was an odd device, looking like something from a sci-fi comic. Scrambling to above it, Harry looked round, finally spotting the entrance, a revolving wall which was miraculously accessible from a semi-collapsed cellar.

Scrambling down a slope of rubble, Harry pushed against the wall. For a moment, it refused to move, then something snapped and the wall rotated enough that he could squeeze through and see the thing without anything blocking his view.

"Wow."

Harry stepped back and gazed at the craft. One end had a trio of what he assumed were engines connected to the cylindrical hull which in turn flared out to almost four feet wide before narrowing to a point. An egg-like dome about a meter long adorned the upper surface, in front of which was a small hemisphere and an **S** in a diamond-shaped shield.

The whole thing, though, seemed to be made from a single piece of metal, with no seams at all.

"What _is_ this?" Harry wondered, stroking the dome, then his hand touched the hemisphere and it lit up.

"What the…?!"

" _Hello, my son."_ A voice said as the image of a man rippled into existence above the object. _"By now, you have learned that you are not like those you call family."_

"No bloody kidding." Harry snorted, thinking of the Dursleys.

" _It is time you learned of where you first came from."_ The man continued, his image vanishing to be replaced by a colored sphere that Harry suddenly realized was a planet. _"This was the world of Krypton…"_

* * *

.

Harry finished burying the craft at the edge of the grounds, carefully covering the freshly-turned earth with leaves and a fallen branch. Glancing up, he saw Grace watching him.

"I think I broke the latch on the secret cellar and I can't risk people finding that thing." He explained, half to his owl and half to himself. "When Christmas comes, I'll dig it back up and see what else it has for me, but until then…"

Harry shrugged and stepped back, looking at his handiwork. Although there were still marks showing that _something_ had happened, the trees and bushes would hide it from the people who would be re-building his house.

"Only a couple of weeks to go." He mused to himself, then he grinned. "A couple of weeks without needing to worry about my relatives and a chance to read through all my books. And since I'm emancipated, I can even try to practice some of the easier spells. This is going to be excellent!"

Glancing round to check that no-one was nearby, Harry pulled out his trunk and un-shrunk it with practiced ease, then he almost dived into it, re-emerging with a coil of rope and a tarpaulin.

"Just set this up and I won't risk being flooded if it decides to pour." He muttered to himself as he started to climb one of the trees. "Better angle it, but once it's up, I can relax."

An amused hoot caught his attention and he smiled.

"Okay, Grace. I'll make sure that the tarpaulin protects one of the lower branches so you can sleep outside without getting wet. That okay with you?"

Grace chuffed with satisfaction.

Harry looked round, then he shrunk and pocketed his trunk, earning a slightly quizzical look from the white owl.

"I'm getting hungry, so I thought I'd get a meal at Hogsmead." He explained. "Since it's so close to Hogwarts, I'll get a chance to listen to all the rumors about it… and maybe speak to some of the recent graduates to find out if there's anything I should know that _isn't_ in the books."


	6. Hogwarts Express

Harry checked that his trunk was still in his pocket before moving to the pillar that Professor Flitwick had made certain to point out to him a week prior. Glancing round to make sure that no-one was paying any attention to him, he made as if to lean against the pillar and instead, stepped straight through.

The platform beyond the magical portal was rather empty, which didn't surprise Harry as there was over an hour to go before the train departed. Checking that his blond wig covered his hair (and the fringe shielded both his scar and eyes from casual glances), Harry made his way confidently across the platform to where several men were doing something to the train engine which involved some wand waving. As he made his way to them, he glanced up at the sign hanging over the platform, one that had the number of the platform in a white circle while the legend _Hogwarts Express_ was just below, painted in gold against a red background.

"Is this platform only used for Hogwarts?" He asked as one of the men glanced at him and the engineer chuckled.

"Nay, lad. Are you muggleborn?"

"Muggle-raised." Harry said with a slight shrug. "I'm a half-blood. Dad was a pure-blood, but he died when I was young."

"Ah, well then. You've seen those signs in the muggle part of the station that change? Well, the words on that one do as well. The spells cast on that sign means that it's easy for the station-master to change what it says."

"Ah, that makes a _lot_ more sense." Harry said. "Thank you for telling me."

"No worries." the chap grinned. "If you want to board, you can, but keep out of the first and last carriages. The first is reserved for the Prefects and Head Boy and Girl while the last one holds the Hogwarts supplies and other stuff."

Harry gave the distant carriage a long look, prompting another laugh.

"It's bigger on the inside, lad. Takes quite a bit of magic to do, but you'll probably learn in your sixth or seventh year."

"Thanks again." Harry smiled and the engineer nodded before turning back to his job. Making his way to the third carriage, he stepped into it, then paused at the sight of the corridor stretching twice as far as the carriage was long.

"Bigger on the inside, just like my trunk." He muttered to himself as he passed the first door, which was ajar to show that it was a bathroom. Moving along, he chose a random compartment and stepped into it, pulling his trunk out of his pocket and expanding it. Placing it on the floor, he used the key to open the Bookcase and stepped back as the shelves rose out of the trunk and unfolded, displaying his collected books.

"Let's see." He mused as he ran a finger along the spines. "I've already read the first-year school books, so something to pass the time… something sci-fi perhaps… Aha! _Insurrection_ by David Weber and Steve White… Looks interesting."

Pulling the book out, he tapped the gem at the top of the shelving unit, causing it to fold up and sink back down, tugging the lid closed. Another tap shrunk the trunk again and he returned it to his pocket before sitting down and opening the book, raising an eyebrow at the opening quote.

" _Politics is the womb in which war is developed_ … okay, this looks like a good novel already."

Leaning back, he began to read.

.

"Excuse me, but do you mind if I sit here?"

Harry looked up at the nervous voice and smiled as reassuringly as he could at the brown-haired girl.

"I don't mind at all. I'm Harry."

The girl gave him a long look, then smiled, showing teeth very slightly too large for a perfect smile. "Hermione. Hermione Granger. Muggleborn. You share the same name as the Harry Potter, the _Boy-who-lived_ … but his hair is black. As I was boarding, I heard someone say that Harry Potter was starting Hogwarts this year and that it would be a political advantage to befriend him and…"

Laughing, Harry held up a hand to stop her. "I know about the name and yes, Potter is quite famous."

"He's mentioned in _Modern Magical History_ , _The Rise And Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events Of The Twentieth Century_."

"I've read those." Harry admitted. "They each say different things happened on _that_ night, but where did they get their information from?"

Hermione opened her mouth, then paused.

"Only four people were there when it happened and three are deceased." Harry continued. "And I'm pretty sure that since he was only a year old at the time, Potter wouldn't have been able to give much of an explanation."

Hermione looked blank for a moment, then she stumbled forwards, dropping her trunk.

"Move it!" Sneered the blond who had shoved her. "Get your stuff out of the corridor so that your _betters_ can get past. Come on Goyle, Crabbe. Let's find Potter, keep an eye out for anyone with black hair."

Hermione glared at the blond as he stalked off, but Harry caught the pain in her expression.

"Sit down." He said gently, guiding her to the bench opposite him. "Anything you want out of the trunk before I put it on the rack?"

"I… it's rather heavy." Hermione said quietly. "It's why Dad put wheels on it for me… how?"

Harry smiled at her as he put the trunk down in front of her. "We've got a journey of several hours ahead of us… I hope you packed lunch."

" _Dad_ had trouble just lifting that down from the boot, and you just… how?" Hermione asked in shock.

"I'm a bit stronger than I look." Harry chuckled. "So, did you want anything from there?"

"Well, I was thinking to re-reading my year one spell-book." Hermione admitted as she opened up the trunk and rummaged carefully through it. "I think it's… aha! Here it is!"

Harry let her close the trunk before picking it up and stowing it, ignoring how her eyes widened.

"…how?" She finally asked. "Are you part-giant or something?"

Harry smiled at her. "Let's just say… something. I'm unique."

Hermione stared at him as he picked his book up and settled down to continue reading.

.

The piercing sound of the whistle jerked Harry out of the Heartworld/Fringer political infighting of the Terran Federation and its slide towards outright war. Refocusing on reality, he glanced out of the window.

"Huh, eleven o'clock already?" He asked rhetorically as Hermione looked up from her own book. A moment later, the carriage jolted as the steam engine began to pull the train out of the station. "Well, in about six hours, we'll be at Hogwarts. You looking forwards to it?"

Hermione nodded eagerly and Harry frowned thoughtfully.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but have you studied wizarding customs yet?"

Hermione looked at him blankly and Harry sighed as he stood up, reaching for her trunk.

"Trust me and put your book away for now."

Hermione returned to book to her trunk and watched as Harry put it back and then brought his own trunk down. Her jaw dropped as the bookshelves rose and unfolded.

"Wha… Oh my! So many books!"

"I have a system." Harry said. "Left, fiction, mainly sci-fi and fantasy. Middle, anything related to school and right, other important books. Now… ah, here we are. Read this."

Hermione accepted the thin book he gave her and peered at it curiously while Harry closed his trunk.

" _A Brief Guide To Wizarding Customs_ by _Theophilus Chivalrius_?"

"Professor Flitwick recommended it to me." Harry explained, gaining a near-worshipful look. "There are quite a few nasty potholes that, unless you know about them in advance, will effectively destroy any hope you may have of getting a good career after Hogwarts. This book will help you avoid most of them."

"Thank you." Hermione replied as she opened the book and Harry picked up his novel once again. As he did so, a trio of red-heads hustled past, dragging their trunks and glancing into the compartments as they passed. The youngest of the three looked at Hermione, who was intent on her book, shuddered and moved on.

"Odd." Harry mused.

"Hey, did you know that refusing to shake someone's hand if they offer it at their first meeting is a sign that you hold them in extreme contempt?" Hermione asked without looking up.

"I should." Harry chuckled. "That _is_ my book."

Hermione blushed, but continued to avidly devour the book's information.

.

"…and my parents were quite relieved when they found out that there was a reason for all the odd things that had been happening." Hermione said as they finished tidying up the wrappers and boxes of their respective packed lunches. "When Professor McGonogall explained that at Hogwarts I'd learn to control my magic, they were very relieved."

"My relatives don't like magic at all." Harry shrugged. "They hated having me around, so me leaving for Hogwarts? They're probably still celebrating."

"Oh, I'm so sorry…" Hermione offered and Harry shook his head.

"It's fine, I didn't like them either and by Christmas, I'll have a new place to stay."

Hermione obviously didn't know how to respond to that, so Harry changed the subject. "Which of the four Houses do you want to be in? I think you'd be an obvious Ravenclaw…"

"I want to be in Gryffindor." Hermione chirped happily. "Headmaster Dumbledore was a Gryffindor and as soon as I read about him, I knew I wanted to follow him. He's not only the Headmaster of Hogwarts, he's also the Chief Warlock _and_ the Supreme Mugwump!"

"I wonder how he finds the time." Harry mused, causing Hermione to almost lock up as she realized she hadn't considered that aspect of Dumbledore's career before. Before she could gather herself, the door slammed open and the blond boy who had barged past Hermione at the start of their journey stood scowling in the doorway.

"Have you seen Potter?" He demanded and Harry tilted his head slightly.

"Sorry, apart from the sweets lady and the people I've seen scurry past, I've only seen Hermione here. Until _you_ arrived, that is."

The blonde snarled and slammed the door closed, stalking off and Hermione blinked.

"You know, you never told me your full name."

Harry moved to the door and opened it slightly, peering out to check that no-one was coming, then he pulled his wig off, causing Hermione's jaw to drop.

"Harry James Potter, at your service." He laughed, then he donned the wig once more. "And before you accuse me of lying, I never actually _said_ I wasn't him."

Hermione blinked several times as she ran their interactions through her head, then nodded unwillingly. "But, why the disguise?"

"Because I wanted to see if I could make a friend who would see me as _me_ , not as the _Boy-who-lost-his-parents_." Harry replied.

"That… makes sense." Hermione allowed. "Are you going for Gryffindor as well?"

"I'll probably try for Ravenclaw." Harry shrugged. "Sure, both my parents were in Gryffindor, but from what I've read, everyone expects me to follow them and I _don't_ like being pressured into doing things."

"…oh." Hermione whispered. "So…"

Harry sighed. "Look, why not make a deal. Whichever one of us who goes first chooses the House they prefer and the other one joins them. That okay?"

Hermione nodded. "Deal. Now, what's that book you're reading? Is it a magical thing?"

"Muggle science fiction." Harry said with a wry smile. "I like to stretch my mind where possible."

"Really? Have you come across the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey?" Hermione asked. "My dad gave it to me to read when I was eight and I really enjoyed it!"

"I don't think I've heard of that series." Harry mused. "what's it about?"

"Well it's about a colony world that's virtually abandoned technology but that uses teleporting dragons to fight off a space-fungus that threatens to eat everything and everyone on the planet…" Hermione started and Harry settled back on his bench, letting her words wash over him as she explained the basics of the series.


	7. Arrival At Hogwarts

Harry followed Hermione out of the carriage, looking round at the darkening surroundings.

"First years over 'ere!" A deep voice called and Harry's eyes widened slightly as he saw the giant figure motioning for them to join him. "First years over 'ere. This way!"

"Shall we, my lady?" Harry asked, offering her his arm and Hermione giggled as she took it.

"Why, thank you, good sir."

Harry chuckled as they followed the huge man, then Harry grabbed something from the ground.

"Odd." He mused, looking at what he'd scooped up. "This doesn't look like the right sort of place for toads…"

"Trevor!" A voice called and Harry blinked as a pudgy boy gently grabbed the toad. "Sorry, he's always running away. Thanks for finding him."

"Not a problem." Harry said with a reassuring smile. "I'm Harry, this is Hermione."

"Neville Longbottom." The newcomer introduced himself and Harry's gaze sharpened.

"Really? Did you know your mother is Harry Potter's godmother?"

"I… I didn't." Neville admitted, looking rather sad before he gave Harry a confused glare. "How did _you_ know?"

"No more-n four to a boat!" The large man called and Harry nodded.

"Yo're with us." He stated. "I'll explain in a moment, but you need to keep quiet… at least until after we get sorted into the Houses… however they do that."

Neville nodded and Harry held the boat steady for Hermione to get in. At his wave, Neville clambered aboard, then Harry vaulted in and sat down.

"Ho!"

The boats started moving at the large man's command and Harry glanced round before lowering his voice.

"To answer your question, I know because I _am_ Harry Potter."

Hermione giggled at Neville's dumbstruck expression and Harry continued. "I had my parents will unsealed and discovered that I had been meant to be taken in by your parents after mine were killed, but after what happened to _your_ parents… it's no surprise it didn't happen. For what it's worth, you have my condolences."

Hermione looked curious and Harry mouthed _later_ at her.

"But… shouldn't your hair be black?" Neville asked.

"It's a wig… false hair." Hermione explained, causing Neville's face to light up in recognition.

"Ah! So… what house are you aiming for? I'm probably going to be a Hufflepuff… I'm almost a squib…"

"Hermione and I've agreed that whichever one of us goes first, the other will do their best to join them." Harry explained. "So if I go first, it'll be Ravenclaw and it'll be Gryffindor if Hermione goes first."

Hermione proved her superior intellect and mental development at that point by sticking her tongue out at Harry.

"You should join us." Harry continued. "I'd love to learn more about the one whom I should have grown up alongside… god-brother."

Neville stared at Harry dumbstruck.

"Here's Hogwarts!" Shouted the huge man and all three of them stared at the illuminated castle perched above the loch.

"Whoah." Harry breathed. "Nice."

"Nice?" Hermione spluttered. " _Nice_? is that _all_ you can come up with? I thought you intended to be a Ravenclaw… _nice_."

Harry laughed as they passed under the curtain of ivy dangling down over the cave mouth.

.

Harry was still chuckling as they finished ascending the extremely long flight of stairs, Neville half-hanging on his arm as he panted for air.

"Are all wizards so…" Hermione began, then she stopped with a slight blush as she realized just how insulting her question could have been.

"I'm used to… working in… the greenhouse." Neville replied, catching his breath. "Not so… many stairs."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get used to it."

The man leading them turned and looked at them, counting heads but looking slightly disappointed. A moment later, he blinked in confusion, then recounted before hitting the door. The wooden portal swung open to reveal a stern-looking elderly lady standing there.

"Yes, Hagrid?"

"The first-years, Deputy Headmistress." Hagrid said. "The number's right, but I don't see… _him_."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Well, I will take it from here. Thank you, Hagrid."

The now-identified man bobbed his head in acknowledgement and stepped around the woman who walked forwards, the door closing behind her.

"For those of you who do not know, I am Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonogall." She stated. "In a moment, you will be entering the Great Hall to be Sorted into one of four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. All four houses have long histories and once you are Sorted, the House will be as your family… yes?"

"I came here to _escape_ my family." Harry said, earning several long looks. "is it too late to leave?"

McGonogall stood motionless for a moment, then she managed to recover. "I shall re-phrase. Once you are sorted, your new House shall become your new family, as a family _should_ be. One willing to help, support and protect you as a true family _should_."

"Got it." Harry chirped, ignoring her glare.

"Each of the four Houses is led by their Head of House." McGonogall continued after a brief pause to make certain that there would be no other interruptions. "I am also the Head of House for Gryffindor…"

"How do you find the time?" Harry asked, earning another glare. "I mean, Deputy Head _and_ Head of House? That's also quite a problem, what happens if someone from Gryffindor gets in trouble and requests to have _both_ Deputy Head _and_ Head of House present? If both can't be present at the same time, the case gets thrown out. Page six-hundred and forty-three of _Hogwarts: A History_."

"Hang on!" The blond half-shouted. "You mean the damned Gryffs can do whatever they want because of a loophole?"

"Pretty much." Harry shrugged.

McGonogall looked rather pale, her eyes fixed on something that she couldn't see and her mouth twitching. Concentrating, Harry heard her muttering _"the Weasley twins must_ never _hear about this…"_

"Harry!" Hermione hissed and Harry shrugged.

"What? I'm just setting things up so if anyone tries to pick on you, you can hex them to Antarctica and back and they won't be able to do anything about it." He explained loudly enough for all the other first-years-to-be to hear. "Of course, given you want to join the _nearly-headless-house_ of Gryffindor, you _need_ some sort of way to protect yourself."

"Nearly-headless-house?" Several students chorused and Harry grinned.

"I got to talking to Tom at the Leaky Cauldron and several of the recent graduates from Hogwarts at the Hog's Head… as well as Aberforth Dumbledore. He's really cool, you know. He's the Headmaster's brother." He stated with a mischievous grin. "According to them, the other Houses have Heads to protect them but apparently _Deputy Headmistress_ McGonogall spends so much effort trying not to be biased _in favor_ of Gryffindor that she actually ends up being biased _against_ her own house."

"I… you… I…" Minerva stuttered.

"Of course, if she hands over the Head of House position to someone else, there won't be a problem." Harry concluded.

"Harry!" Hermione half-whined as McGonogall took the opportunity to retreat back into the Great Hall.

.

"Headmaster!" Minerva snapped as she strode towards the front of the hall. "In order to prevent outright war and to save my sanity, I'm resigning as the Head of Gryffindor. Who wishes to take over?"

All the teachers stared at her, as did the shocked pupils, then Albus Dumbledore finally broke the silence.

"Why?"

"Because one of the new students pointed out that my position as both Deputy Headmistress _and_ Head of Gryffindor means that all that any misbehaving student in my former house had to do was ask for the presence of the Deputy Headmistress _in addition to_ the Head of House to confirm punishments. Since I am both and cannot be in two places at once..."

All eyes snapped to the pair of red-headed twins at the Gryffindor table who were face-palming and wailing dramatically at the many thousands of missed opportunities.

"…so we need a new Head of Gryffindor, otherwise it is effectively open season for the twins since we will be unable to give them any punishments!" McGonogall finished.

"I see." Albus said, looking rather pale himself. "Then… Professor Vector?"

.

"Why would you _do_ that?" Hermione half-shouted, her fists holding handfuls of Harry's school robe as she pushed him against the nearest wall with all of her strength.

"Because, unless I miss my guess, Gryffindor will have within minutes a Head that actually pays attention to what's happening in the house. A Head that is available to actually _help_ new students and will stand up for them."

Hermione froze as she thought it though, then she sagged, releasing him.

"Fine." She growled. "But don't do _anything_ like that again without consulting me first."

"Bloody hell!" A nearby red-head gasped. "If McGonogall's still both when we enter, I'm running away! You have no idea how bad my twin brothers can be!"

"Listen up!" McGonogall snapped from the now-open door. "Follow me, it's time to Sort you."

The students grew quiet as they filed in through the doorway into the silent hall. As most of the students started looking around at the magically-transparent ceiling and the floating candles, Harry took the opportunity to move to Hermione's other side and remove his wig, covertly pocketing it.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." She caid coldly, her eyes searching for the long blond hair of the one who had called her out on having too many jobs. "It is now time for you to be Sorted into your Houses. They are Gryffindor under Professor Vector, Ravenclaw under Professor Flitwick, Hufflepuff under Professor Sprout and Slytherin under Professor Snape."

The four indicated professors nodded, waved or scowled as they were introduced and McGonogall stalked over to a three-legged stool that was just in front of the Teacher's table. Hagrid held out something for her to take and then retreated as she placed it on the stool before stepping aside so that the students could see it.

"A… hat?" Hermione whispered in confusion just before the hat seemed to perk up, a tear near its brim opening like a mouth.

" _Oh you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black, your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat and I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head the Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none) for I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

As the students at the four tables began to applaud, the redhead near Harry growled.

"I'll _kill_ my brothers… they told me we needed to wrestle a troll!"

Harry bit down a grin as McGonogall held up a scroll and read the first name from it.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

As the named girl scurried forwards, Harry leaned close to Hermione.

"It looks like you're going to choose our House, Hermione. Granger comes before Longbottom and Potter."

Hermione gave him a glare as the hat announced " _Hufflepuff_ ", causing the table on the right to cheer.

"Well, that's Hufflepuff…" Harry noted, "Now for the other tables."

One of the older students looked at him as the next first-year walked up the the stool.

"That table's Slytherin, we're the Ravenclaws and the table by the wall is Gryffindor."

"Thanks." Harry smiled. "So… according to the descriptions that Aberforth gave me, from left to right as we look at it now, it's brawlers, bookworms, bigots and bumblers."

The Ravenclaw froze, his expression midway between amused and indignant as Hermione face-palmed.

"Dammit, Harry." She grumbled.

"Language, Hermione." Harry chuckled back at her, earning a glare in response, but her reply was cut short by McGonogall.

"Granger, Hermione!"

"Choose wisely!" Harry smirked as she walked towards the stool. Hermione simply rolled her eyes, then sat down and let McGonogall place the Hat on her head.


	8. Settling In

"Well, this has been the most interesting Sorting Feast since I joined the staff." Professor Hooch admitted as the newest Head of House, Professor Septima Vector, entered the Staff Meeting Room. "Specifically, Minerva, why did you choose _today_ to quit being Head of Gryffindor?"

"The Twins." McGonogall half-growled. "Someone pointed out that as long as _I_ was Head of House _and_ Deputy Headmistress, they could use that as a get-out-of-trouble-free card…where _does_ that saying come from anyway?"

"It's from a Muggle game." Professor Sprout supplied, earning several curious looks. "We have one in the Hufflepuff common room. The Muggleborn enjoy playing it. I've tried, but some of the maths involved is quite complicated. I mean, _percentages_? What _are_ they?"

Several mumbles of agreement sounded, then Flitwick spoke up.

"So, how do we arrange the first-years lessons?"

"The obvious split is Slytherin/Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw/Gryffindor for the majority of the lessons." Snape sneered from his seat. "Perhaps the bookworms will cause the dunderheads to gain a point or two of intelligence by simple proximity, although given that Potter is a 'claw, I have my doubts."

"I've spoken to Harry Potter several times before he arrived here." Filius said in a very controlled voice as both McGonogall and Professor Vector glared at the sallow-haired Potionsmaster. "I have found myself quite impressed with his eagerness to learn and his ability to virtually memorize any book he reads."

Snape gave a snort of disbelief, causing the half-goblin to scowl at him.

"Severus Snape, you will treat my Eagles with respect, otherwise I will be only too happy to _volunteer_ you for a demonstration in the various forms of dueling."

Snape nodded unwillingly.

"I know you and James Potter had your issues, but you will _not_ use his son as an excuse to vent your spleen." Flitwick continued and all the staff members heard the clanging of steel in his tone. "James Potter is dead and buried. Leave your grudge with _him_."

Snape lowered his gaze and Flitwick sat back down in his chair, his wand vanishing into its holster.

"Now, moving on." McGonogall said, taking control of the meeting. "Since Albus isn't here, we must decide ourselves when the lessons should be… and with whom…"

.

"That's quite a trunk." Neville said admiringly as the bookcase sank back down. "I'm using my father's, but it's only a two-compartment model. It's been in my family for generations, though."

"Mine's new." Harry said as he threw his sleeping trousers onto his bed and glanced around at the room that he shared with Neville. "Uncle Fil… I mean _Professor Flitwick_ now that I'm at Hogwarts, recommended it given my… circumstances."

Neville paused, his pajama-top half-buttoned and gave Harry a questioning look.

"I'm emancipated." Harry explained with a smile. "And I'm having The Pottery rebuilt. If you want, I'll invite you over for… Boxing Day, maybe? I'm planning on inviting Hermione over as well… and I'll have to ask her tomorrow if she's finished the book I lent her yet."

"What book?" Neville asked curiously.

.

" _A Brief Guide To Wizarding Customs_ by _Theophilus Chivalrius_?" Padma Patil asked from her portion of the room that she, Granger and Sue Li shared.

"Harry Potter loaned it to me…" Hermione began, then she paused at the envious looks that both girls were sending her way. "What?"

"He lent you a book?" Padma gasped. "Where was he? Parvati and I searched the whole train, there was no sign of him!"

"He was wearing a wig?" Hermione offered meekly and Sue Li fell over dramatically onto her bed.

"The blond boy." She groaned and Hermione nodded in confirmation.

"He wanted to see if anyone would want to be _his_ friend rather than the friend of the _Boy-who-lived_."

Both of the other girls were silent for a long moment before Padma spoke admiringly.

"That's… almost Slytherin."

Hermione shrugged and turned her attention back to the book as she finished the chapter.

* * *

.

"Welcome to the House of Ravenclaw!" Filius Flitwick smiled from his position on the top of a small platform just in front of the map of Hogwarts that adorned an entire side of the common room, a platform that had obviously been installed purely for his usage in situations where he needed to address the House. "Soon, you will head to the Great Hall for breakfast, but first I must make a few announcements.  
"As I am sure all of you are aware, we do indeed have Harry Potter amongst our numbers. Please do not press him about the tragedy that cost him his parents. Also, due to a previously-unknown Mail Ward which included Gringotts Secure Messages in its effect, Mr Potter hasn't received a single letter that any of you have sent. Be aware that it is not his fault and until very recently, he was unaware that anyone would even want to write to him."

Several of the older students wore expressions of both understanding and sympathy while many of the younger ones simply looked confused.

"For second-years and above, be aware that there are now three spots open on the House Quidditch Team, one beater and two chasers. Tryouts will be held a week on Saturday.  
"Primary discipline will be the responsibility of the Prefects. Should they be unable to deal with whatever issue arises, they will bring whichever matter it is to my attention. Similarly, should you require aid, they will provide it if asked.  
"That is all for now, so please make your way to the Great Hall. Thank you."

Hermione used the crowding around the door to the tower as an excuse to move so that she was flanking Harry with Neville on his other side.

"Our first full day at Hogwarts…" She breathed in awe. "I wonder what we're going to learn? I've already read all my textbooks cover to cover…"

"You as well?" Harry laughed, earning a long look from Hermione. "Neville?"

"I… I've only read the first few chapters of each… well, apart from my Herbology books. I've read _those_ several times." Neville admitted, then he brightened. "I'm really looking forwards to Herbology, at home I spent as much time as I could in the greenhouses. I really like plants…"

"So, now we know who to ask for anything plant-related." Harry noted, causing Neville to blush in embarrassment. "So, to change the subject and stop Nev from turning into a tomato…"

"Hey!" Neville protested as several of the other students chuckled.

"…did you sleep okay last night? I mean, with _two_ room-mates…"

"I slept fine." Hermione replied primly, ignoring the giggles from behind her. "The beds are quite comfortable."

"Since we're spending nine months a year at Hogwarts, that's a good thing." Harry pointed out. "You know, there's a _lot_ of suits of armor standing around… I think I read somewhere that they're magical."

" _Hogwarts: A History, chapter seventeen_. " Hermione recited after a brief pause. "The suits of armor that line the hallways of Hogwarts are more than mere decorations. Should the Headmaster call upon them, they will march forth to protect Hogwarts against those who would imperil it."

"Word for word." Harry laughed in amazement. "Okay, I'm impressed."

"As am I, Miss Granger." Flitwick added from in front of them. "If not for the fact that traditionally we only start giving points _after_ the first breakfast of the year, I would indeed be awarding you some now. You truly are a Ravenclaw."

Hermione's blush of embarrased pleasure eclipsed Neville's earlier one.

.

Harry sat down and glanced at the head table where Albus Dumbledore was seated on his thronelike chair, then he looked at the Prefect sat nearby.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, how does the food arrive? I admit to having been somewhat distracted last night."

"The Hogwarts House-elves make the food in the kitchens and transport it to the tables using their magic." The teenaged boy explained and Hermione frowned.

"House-elves?"

"They're a magical race, but they _need_ magic in order to live, magic which they gain from bonding with a family or living in a highly-magical environment such as Hogwarts." The Prefect added. "It's an ancient bargain between wizard-kind and the elves. the elves serve us, something which they tend to enjoy, and in return, we give them the ambient magic they require in order to live. Without a magical source to live from, the elves will suffer from depression, anxiety, physical degradation and, finally, death."

Hermione paled as she thought about it and Harry tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Before you try to do anything, talk to unc… talk to Professor Flitwick about it." Harry said quietly. "He once told me that acting before you have _all_ the facts is a good way to end up looking like an idiot."

"Very true." Filius said from behind them. "Miss Granger, come and see me after dinner and I'll help you to understand. I'm fully aware of how it looks at first to a muggleborn, you aren't the first of my house to worry about the elves."

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione managed, then she looked at the sheet he had slid into her hand while she was distracted. "Huh?"

"Your schedule and remember, lessons start tomorrow, so you have a full day to explore and find the classrooms." Filius smiled, passing similar sheets to Harry and Neville. "Now, eat up!"

Harry turned back to the table to see that bowls, platters and tureens of food had appeared while he had been listening to Filius.

"Wow." Harry grinned as he picked up a goblet filled with an odd liquid. "I wonder what this is… _Bleugh_!"

"It's Pumpkin juice." the Prefect supplied and Harry put the goblet down firmly.

"I'd much rather have a cup of tea. That just tastes _yeuch_. Huh?"

A silver-embossed teapot appeared in front of Harry, along with a china cup on a saucer, a small jug of milk, a bowl of sugar and another bowl holding lemon slices.

"Ooh, can I have a cup too, please?" Hermione asked, directing her query into thin air and a second cup and saucer appeared in front of her. "Thank-you!"

Harry reached for the teapot, then paused, his eyes glinting with amusement as he turned to look at Hermione.

"Shall I be _mother_?"

Hermione failed to suppress her giggles while Neville simply stared at them in incomprehension and Harry took pity on the Pureblood.

"It's a muggle joke." He explained and Neville shrugged before turning back to his food. "Mmmm, smells like Darjeeling."

Hermione took a sip from her cup and smiled.

"It is! I really like Darjeeling."

Conversation flagged as they applied themselves to their breakfasts until first Neville, then Hermione leaned back with sighs of repletion.

"How do you pack all that away?" Hermione asked after several more minutes and Harry winked at her.

"Fast metabolism."

"A fast _what_?" Neville asked, perplexed and Hermione took over.

"A fast metabolism refers to how quickly and effeciently a person's body absorbs the nutrients in food and makes use of them." She began and Harry let the words wash over him as he continued to eat.

.

"Let's see." Hermione mused as she perused her schedule, relying on Neville's guiding hand on her shoulder to keep her from colliding with anything. "Monday… starting with Herbology…"

Neville brightened at the comment.

"Transfiguration… Defense Against The Dark Arts… Charms… Tuesday… Oh! We start with Charms!"

Harry looked at his own sheet. "Thankfully we can sleep in a bit on Thursdays. I mean, after the Astronomy class on Wednesday evening…"

Hermione nodded, not really paying attention.

"So, should we explore that third-floor corridor that Dumbledore dared everyone to go to yesterday?" Harry asked , causing both of his friends to stare at him. "What?"

"Dumbledore said that we should _avoid_ that corridor unless we wanted to die a painful death!" Hermione hissed, grabbing Harry and pinning him against the wall while Neville nodded in agreement.

"Hermione," Harry said as calmly as he could, "We're in a school full of _teenagers_. Teenagers are well-known for ignoring rules and instructions unless it's specifically pointed out _why_ the rules exist. Dumbledore didn't say _why_ we shouldn't go there, so of course, someone's already gone to look, right?"

Hermione sagged and let him go.

"Damn you and your logic." She grumbled.

"I… don't really want to go and look." Neville said quietly. "I mean, what if it _is_ dangerous?"

"Alright." Harry acquiesced. "You win, we won't go to the third floor corridor."

"Good." Hermione said as she turned and resumed walking. "Now, let's get to the tower and see if we can find a way to get a copy of that map of Hogwarts. We're going to need to plan our routes."

"I'm sure Neville knows all about roots." Herry joked, earning a dope-slap and a _huff_ from Hermione.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are interested, here's Ravenclaws lesson schedule
> 
> Mon – Herbology / Transfiguration (lunch) Defense / History  
> Tue – Charms / History (lunch) Herbology / Defense  
> Wed – Double Potions (lunch)Charms / Transfiguration (Dinner) Astronomy (11 :30 – 12:30)  
> Thu – (Free) Herbology (lunch) History / Charms  
> Fri – Defense / (Free) (lunch) Transfiguration / (Free/Flying)
> 
> As you've probably realized, this chapter happened on the Sunday they arrived and the following Monday.


	9. Potions With Snape

The door to the classroom slammed open and Professor Snape stalked into the potions lab, his robes flaring dramatically as he made his way to the front of the classroom. Turning round, he stared at the students with an expression of disdain on his face.

""You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." He began without preamble. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…  
"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of _dunderheads_ as I usually have to teach."

For a long moment, everyone was silent as Snape sneered at their expressions, then he turned slightly, his gaze fixing on Harry.

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of Asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry blinked, mentally thanking his (apparently) non-human ancestry as he pulled up the requested memory.

"I believe that would be the first stage of the potion known as the Draught of Living Death, sir."

Snape blinked.

"Well, it would seem that unlike your father, you _did_ actually open a book before attending class. Very well, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I must ask for clarification." Harry said calmly.

"Clarification?" Snape repeated in a cold voice.

"If you mean _immediately_ , I would look in my potions kit as I know I have three there since they are a sovereign remedy for most poisons." Harry explained. "Failing that, I would ask permission to access your supply cupboard. As a Potions Master, you have a keen understanding of the dangers of mis-brewed potions, so you would undoubtedly have a supply ready to hand so that you would not need to spend time brewing specific antidotes.  
"If, however, you mean where would I _acquire_ one from, that would be the Apothecary but if you meant where are bezoars _sourced_ from, they are stones taken from the stomachs of a certain breed of magical goat. I believe that Aberforth Dumbledore has a small herd at the Hog's Head Inn, but I do not think he would look kindly on people trying to cut open their stomachs."

Snape gave him a long, considering look.

"A… tolerable answer and yes, he does indeed supply bezoars to Hogwarts. Very well, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Harry frowned in concentration. "That would be the preparation, sir. The leaves are taken from the plant aconite and to produce monkshood, the leaves are dried out and ground to powder while wolfsbane is produced via pickling."

Snape gave him another long look.

"It would seem that the Hat chose the correct house for you after all, although considering your parentage, I expected you to go into Gryffindor."

"Sir…" Harry said slowly, "I don't know that much about my parents, but Professor Flitwick said that you knew my mother. If it is not too much trouble, can I ask you to tell me about her sometime?"

Snape's expression went blank for a long moment.

"That can wait." He finally said, then he turned and pulled out his wand, using it to tap the blackboard that stretched most of the way across the front of the classroom, causing words to appear on it as if being wiped into existence.

"Here are the instructions for the Boil-curing potion." He growled. "You will pair up for this."

Harry glanced at Neville and saw him looking nervous, so he surreptitiously motioned for Hermione to partner with him, then looked around for someone to team up with.

"Potter, you're with Mr Malfoy." Snape stated and Harry looked at the smirking Slytherin.

"Potter."

"Malfoy." Harry returned, hiding his annoyance. "Do you want to set up the cauldron or collect the ingredients?"

.

"Mr Potter, remain behind." Snape barked from behind his desk and Harry lifted a mental eyebrow at how Snape _hadn't_ simply barked out his surname like a curse. "Everyone else, go."

Harry finished tidying up the bench (especially the parts that Malfoy had taken great delight in messing up) as the other students filed out. Snape remained silent as Harry finished cleaning the bench, then he pointed to the chair near his desk.

"Sit."

Harry moved to the chair and sat down while Snape steepled his fingers.

"You really know nothing about your mother?"

"Only what Professor Flitwick has told me and what I have read from her journal." Harry admitted. "I'm about halfway through her first journal which covers her first year here… if she hated James Potter so much, _how_ did she end up with him? I mean, from what I've read so far, you and her were a far more likely pairing."

Snape winced slightly. "Yes, we were close friends before we attended Hogwarts. I was the one who introduced her to the Magical World and we retained our friendship even though I was Sorted into Slytherin and she became a Gryffindor. Or rather, we stayed friends until I fell in with a bad crowd and during our fifth year, in a fit of temper, I used a word that I have regretted ever since."

Harry kept silent for a long moment as Snape stared at something that only he could see, then the Professor snapped his gaze back to him.

"You said you knew nothing of your mother before Flitwick met you. So, why not?"

"Aunt Petunia refused to…" Harry said before Severus slammed his palms on the desk.

"You were sent to _her_?"

Harry stared in shock for a moment, then nodded. "Mum's journal said you and Petunia didn't get on…"

"Your mother… understated it." Snape said, recovering his poise. "Petunia and I _detested_ each other. Why would Dumbledore send you to _her_ of all people?"

"Apparently, Blood Wards." Harry said with a shrug. "It wasn't that bad, we had an understanding. I ignored them as much as possible and they returned the favor."

"That's… not what I would have expected from her." Snape finally admitted. "You have given me much to consider. You may leave."

Harry nodded and rose from the chair. Picking up his bag, he walked to the door and then paused as Snape spoke again.

"I… have some pictures of Lily which I will have copied for you. You have her eyes. Once you finish reading her first Journal…?"

Harry nodded and Snape's lips twitched in what might have been an abortive smile.

"You may go."

.

"You okay?" Neville asked as Harry joined them in the Great Hall.

"Yes…?" Harry replied with a bemused air. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"It's… _Snape_." Neville half-whispered. "I've heard all sorts of stories about him at the Balls and Galas that Gran took me to…"

"Make sure you read ahead and you should be fine." Harry smiled reassuringly. "Professor Snape just needed to check something. It's sorted now. Looking forwards to our next lesson?"

Neville grinned and pulled his wand out of his wrist-holster. Lifting it up, he grinned widely.

"Incredible, isn't it? Cherry with a unicorn hair core and thirteen inches… Ollivander was _scathing_ towards Gran and Professor Flitwick was smirking at her. I can't wait to actually do some _real_ magic."

"You did seem rather excited when you got back, last night." Harry admitted. "Tired, though."

"Flitwick had me run through some exercises in the infirmary to check that using my dad's wand hadn't damaged my magic at all." Neville supplied while opposite them, Hermione had abandoned her book and was listening intently. "Apparently there was no strain showing at all, although that could have changed had I used it for a year or more."

"I'm sure that Professor Flitwick'll be eager to see how well you do." Hermione supplied as she looked at the wand Neville was holding. "Do you really keep that in your sleeve? Is there a special pocket or something?"

Neville pulled his sleeve slightly down to reveal the top of his wrist holster, as did Harry and Hermione's eyes lit up.

"Wand holsters?"

At the boys nods, Hermione pulled out a piece of paper and a quill. "Okay, now I know what to ask my parents for when it comes to christmas presents."

Neville flexed his fingers and the small summoning charm in his holster triggered, pulling the wand into the dragon-hide sleeve and holding it securely.

"Wow." Hermione breathed. "So _that's_ how Harry and Professor Flitwick do it!"

* * *

.

"Our first lesson of Transfiguration!" Hermione bubbled as they filed into the classroom, then she looked around curiously. "Odd, I thought Professor McGonogall would be waiting…"

From the desk at the front of the classroom, a cat gave them a long glance.

"Maybe we should find a seat?" Neville offered, one hand stroking his holster as he grinned over the memories of the Charms lesson that had just finished, a lesson in which he had proven that he was most definitely _not_ a borderline-Squib.

Hermione bustled over to a wide desk with three chairs and sat down almost regally in the center chair, allowing Harry and Neville to sit down flanking her, exchanging amused smiles as they did so. As the other students filed in, Harry pulled out his Transfiguration textbook, a notebook and a biro, causing Hermione to face-palm.

"Why didn't _I_ think of that." she groaned, looking at the muggle implements on the desk. "Notebook and pen… urgh."

Neville looked across from where he had setting up his scroll for taking notes. "That looks very useful, where did you get it?"

"W. H. Smiths." Harry replied and Neville looked at him blankly. "It's a muggle shop specializing mainly in stationary and things to do with studying."

"Muggle, so I can't owl-order some for myself." Neville sighed, then his gaze drifted to the front where the cat was standing up. It looked at them, then leapt off the desk, expanding and _changing_ as it did so until a bare half-second later, Minerva McGonogall was stood at the front of the classroom.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." She stated. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She punctuated her statement by waving her wand at her desk, turning it into a giant pig and then back again, garnering a ripple of applause from several students, including Hermione.

McGonogall waited for the applause to die down before continuing. "While most other types of magic are performed primarily by incantations and wand movements, Transfiguration is performed through visualization and willpower and it will be several years before you are ready to perform the spells that create living beings…"

As McGonogall continued, Harry started scribbling notes, an action quickly duplicated by his tablemates.

After a quarter of an hour of expounding on the intricacies, dangers and basic rules of transfiguration, McGonogall started to pace around the room, placing a matchstick in front of each student. Returning to the front, she held up a final matchstick and waved her wand at it, turning it into a needle.

"You will need to concentrate for this." She stated. "Turn the match in front of you into a needle. Begin."

Harry and Neville triggered their holsters, their wands seeming to appear in their hands as Hermione reached into her robe pocket, giving her companions an envious glance.

"Remember to concentrate." McGonogall said and Harry frowned as he looked at the match. Hermione started to mutter under her breath and Harry hid a smirk as he heard her try _"Hctam nrut otni eldeen!_ "

"Non-verbal, Hermione." He said just loud enough for her to hear. "Remember what McGonogall said, focus on what you want to happen, push your magic into the object and then force it to change."

Neville lifted his wand and looked at his match which had taken on a silvery sheen.

"Not bad, Neville." Harry congratulated him. "How did you do that?"

"Well, I thought doing it all at once was too hard, so I decided to try to change it into metal first, _then_ reshape it." Neville admitted, causing Hermione to turn back to her match with renewed determination.


	10. Conversations

"Ah, come in Severus." Albus said cheerfully as the Potions Professor stalked into the meeting room. "Good, we're all here, so we can begin. With the sole exception of Professor Hooch, who will be teaching the first-years about flying tomorrow, you have all taught at least one class to our new students or interacted with them as their Head of House. So, who wants to start?"

"As Head of Gryffindor but not a teacher of the first-years, I will." Professor Vector said. "My House has settled down and are quite happy to have someone who will actually _listen_ to them… Sorry, Minerva, but your position as Deputy Headmistress really did interfere with your duties as Head of House…"

"Looking back, I can see it." Minerva admitted through clenched teeth. "And if I can get my hands on that blond hooligan…"

"What exactly are you accusing Mr. Malfoy of?" Snape asked defensively and Minerva shook her head.

"Not him. The boy with the shoulder-length golden-blond hair."

Everyone exchanged confused looks.

"I don't remember seeing anyone like that. Are you sure you remember correctly?" Albus asked and Minerva hissed in irritation.

.

"How do you remain so calm?" Neville asked as he climbed into his four-poster bed. Harry, sat reading using his pillows as a backrest, gave him a curious look. "Seriously, I've been on the verge of freaking out several times, but you just… how?"

Harry thought for a long moment, comparing the parts he had picked up about Neville's childhood to his own.

"I guess… it's because I didn't have anyone constantly claiming that they were _disappointed_ in me." He finally concluded. "My relatives didn't _have_ any real expectations for me, they just hated me for being different. I effectively grew up without really worrying about what people thought of me… except for the few I respected, like Mr. Kalwar."

Neville looked at him curiously and Harry elaborated. "He ran the local newsagent. I helped to deliver the papers in the morning."

"Oh, right." Neville said in realization. "I had wondered how Muggles got their papers since they don't use owls."

"Um… yeah…" Harry managed, once again struck by the sheer mental disconnect between the magical and non-magical worlds. "Anyway, I learned how to stand up for myself at his urging without turning into a bully and it kinda kept me going."

"Sounds heavenly." Neville half-whispered and Harry shook his head.

"Nope. Lonely." Harry responded. "But it taught me self-reliance."

.

"So, which one are you going to marry?" Sue Li asked, causing Hermione to freeze in the middle of brushing her hair in her never-ending battle to get it under control.

"Wha…?"

"Potter or Longbottom?" Padma supplied as she finished donning her nightie. "Both have advantages. Potter is fairly rich and the Potters are known for marrying intelligent witches while the Longbottoms are one of the Sacred Twenty-eight and politically very powerful, second only to the Malfoys."

"And the Malfoys are only powerful because they have so much money." Sue Li added with a moue of disgust.

"We're only _eleven_!" Hermione protested. "That's _way_ too early to be thinking about things like that!"

Both her room-mates stared at her, then Padma sighed. "Hermione, you're a muggleborn who is new to the Magical World, so you don't know this, but for us Purebloods and most of the Halfbloods, there's a _lot_ of pressure being placed on us to find a compatible mate and begin pumping out kids to bring the numbers of magicals back up. You-Know-Who's forces ended quite a few families and severely depleted the number of magicals, especially Halfbloods and Muggleborns."

"The Diagon Alley Massacre thirteen years ago." Sue Li added. "Father lost his godson to that, it was the last time that the Ministry tried to save money by bringing all the muggleborns and their families to Diagon Alley at once so that they could prepare for Hogwarts with minimal security."

"My father told me that the times were switched by a Death Eater or one of their sympathizers in the Ministry and the Aurors arrived an hour _after_ the massacre due to thinking the meeting started at noon." Padma said darkly. "That's why Hogwarts Professors always accompany the muggleborn students one at a time for their shopping trips now."

Hermione found her throat was suddenly dry.

"But… how? …why?"

"It was war." Sue Li sighed. "My family stayed out of it…"

"As did mine." Padma interjected.

"…but the muggleborn were a priority target for the Death Eaters." Sue Li finished. "Of course, it means that there's less fresh blood to help strengthen the oldest families."

"So many of the Purebloods marry their cousins." Padma rolled her eyes. "Dad has partial ownership of a Pegasus Ranch, he _knows_ what damage inbreeding can cause, which is why he gave me a list of people who were related to me and were therefore ineligible as marriage prospects."

Hermione's jaw dropped. What sort of world had she ended up in?

.

"…and what of you, Severus?" Albus asked, amusement written on his face. "Has your worst nightmare come to pass?"

Snape glared at the Headmaster. "If you mean the Potter brat, he is… tolerable."

"High praise indeed." Filius commented with a slight tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"He does not take after his father in anything but looks." Snape admitted. "He studies hard… like his mother did."

Flitwick leaned back in his chair with a smirk, earning a fulminating glare from Snape.

"And the twins?" Minerva prompted, looking at Vector.

"Still mourning their inability to escape the consequences of their actions and all the missed opportunities to do so." Vector said, her face placid enough to fool all but those who knew her well. For those few, the vengeful amusement in her voice was unmistakable and Minerva smirked.

"I'm keeping an eye on them, though." Vector continued, her voice lacking the previous amusement. "Knowing them, finding out about the missed opportunities will only inspire them to try something… bigger. Possibly something even worse than the Custard Incident last year."

Almost every single one of the teachers winced at the thought of the potential impending mayhem.

.

"I still sometimes think I should have been in Hufflepuff." Neville admitted as Harry finished the page of his mother's journal and replaced the bookmark in it.

"Nev, remind me. Who did Professor Sprout say was the best natural Herbologist she had encountered? Let's see… I think it was someone about your height…"

Neville gave Harry a glare, but Harry could see the smile trying to break free.

"And with your new wand, you're _very_ good at Charms and DADA… despite Quirrel's stutter." Harry added, causing Neville to slowly nod.

"I… suppose, it's just that…"

"It takes a while to overcome the feelings that your gran made you feel, even if she didn't realize exactly what she was doing." Harry agreed, earning another quizzical look. "I kinda spent a long time reading in the library back in Little Whinging… the books on psychology were quite interesting… once you got past the dryness of the words they used."

"What's say-collage-ee?"

Harry froze, trying to find a way to explain it that wouldn't simply confuse his friend.

.

"That's just… that's just…" Hermione shook her head in a mixture of confusion and denial. "But… what if the child _doesn't_ want to get married to whoever the parents choose?"

"They get thrown out of the family." Padma shrugged. "Oh, it rarely happens these days for anyone _other_ than the oldest Pureblood lines and since it relies on the Heads of Houses making a contract, it never happens to Muggleborns since they _are_ their own Head of House… once they come of age, that is."

" _I'll_ be a Head of House?" Hermione asked, distracted from the earth-shattering revelations she had encountered. "But… what should I do? How will it affect me?"

"Well, it probably won't." Sue Li shrugged. "You are a Muggleborn, so you won't be eligible for a seat on the Wizengamot, even if you could afford one. The members would simply deny you a place, they value their power too much."

"What sort of government _are_ they?" Hermione exclaimed in disgust. "How do they justify being in control without listening to the public?"

"They generally don't." Padma said as she slipped into her own bed and waved her wand to dim the lights above her bed. "Dad's been trying to get a seat for several decades, but the families already there have refused to admit him every time. I think he's hoping to have Parvati marry into one of the Wizengamot families and that way, his grandson will be one of the power-mongers."

"…the more I learn about Wizarding Society, the less I'm liking it." Hermione sighed as she waved her own wand to dim her lights.

.

"Anyone else have anything to add?" Albus asked, looking round as all the teachers shook their heads. "Well, I still have a veritable mountain of paperwork waiting for me, so I declare this meeting at an end and thank you all for coming."

Severus rose from his chair and stalked to the door. Descending the spiral stairs, he exited and stepped around the Gargoyle, pulling up his hood so that he could fade into the shadows.

He remained motionless as the other teachers slowly filed out, although McGonogall gave him an amused glance but otherwise ignored him. Finally his target appeared and Severus stepped out from the shadow, only to freeze as a wand hovered barely a foot from his groin.

"Severus, you should know better than to try and surprise a Duelist." Flitwick scolded as the wand vanished.

"I am aware of that, but we need to talk." Severus returned and Flitwick motioned for Severus to walk with him.

"So, you have something to say?" Flitwick prompted two corridors later. "Or do we need to take it to one of our offices?"

"More of a warning." Severus finally admitted. "Malfoy has discovered that Potter disguised himself on the Hogwarts Express and is… irritated at the lack of opportunity to sway him before reaching Hogwarts as per his father's instructions. He also dislikes how Longbottom and Granger have become Potter's friends already, especially since Granger is a muggleborn yet is already showing him up in class… I believe that he may be planning something for tomorrow, despite my warnings that such a thing would be… unwise."

"The flying lesson." Flitwick deduced.

"Although I have warned Rolanda, I believe that you should find a way to watch, if you can." Severus suggested mildly. "Unfortunately, I will be overseeing the Seventh-years potions lesson at that particular time…"

"I see." Flitwick mused. "Unfortunately, I have to teach a lesson of my own at that time… this is most vexing."

"Indeed." Severus muttered darkly. "Indeed."

.

"Flying class tomorrow." Neville said as he twirled his new wand to dim the lights, smiling at his ability to do so. "I've never been on a broomstick before…"

"Hermione's been trying to read up on broomstick flying." Harry chuckled, then he sobered. "I hate to say this, but even though I've known her for less than a week, I get the impression that she might rely too much on books…"

"…you could be right." Neville said after a long, thoughtful pause. "Any ideas?

"Regarding Hermione? None whatsoever." Harry admitted. "Regarding the flying lesson tomorrow? See what happens and try to have some fun."

"That's… a good idea." Neville admitted after a long, thoughtful silence.

"I've wanted to learn how to fly for years." Harry added. "Seeing birds in the air… something about it just… just calls to me."

"Sounds like you might be a natural at Quidditch." Neville commented and Harry rolled over to look at him, seeing him easily despite the darkness due to his body heat.

"Quidditch? What's Quidditch?"

"You don't know what Quidditch is?" Neville asked in surprise.

"No, but let's wait until tomorrow before talking about it." Harry suggested. "I think we'll need to get our sleep first."

"Good idea." Neville chuckled. "Goodnight, Harry."

"Night, Nev."


	11. Flight

The afternoon sun shone from a cloudless sky as the first-years assembled on the lawn and Harry looked round at the assembled throng.

" _There he is!"_

" _A Raven? But his parents were both lions…"_

" _Perhaps he isn't brave like they were..."_

" _Hah! The chosen one, a coward!"_

Harry tuned out the comments, most of which seemed to be coming from the clump of Slytherins, and turned to look at the two lines of broomsticks lying on the grass. Even at a distance, he could see that many of them had misaligned bristles or small cracks in the handles, quite unlike the broomsticks he had briefly seen on display in Diagon Alley.

"Good morning, class. Now hurry up and get to a broom." The sharp-eyed grey-haired witch waiting by the brooms snapped. "Line up and get ready."

Harry paused long enough to place a comforting hand on Hermione's shoulder, causing her to pause her near-silent recitation of the books she had read about broomsticks, then he gave Neville a reassuring nod. Making his way to the brooms, he looked up as Draco took position opposite him, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him like always.

"So, I heard you were raised by _muggles_." Draco sneered. "That means that this will be the first time you've ever _seen_ a proper broomstick. Don't worry, I'll show you what to do, I'm a superior flyer. Why, I once out-flew a muggle helicopter!"

"Really?" Harry queried with a raised brow. "How much did your father have to pay for you breaking the Statute of Secrecy like that?"

Malfoy sputtered and stammered at the unexpected question, but his planned reply was halted as the witch spoke up again.

"My name is Rolanda Hooch. I am the Flying Instructor and Quidditch Referee of Hogwarts and I also run the weekend flying lessons for those who wish to improve themselves. Today will be the first time on a Broomstick for many of you. Just remember to stay calm as you ride it since Broomsticks respond to your thoughts and motions. You simply need to concentrate on where you wish to go. To accelerate, you concentrate, same for braking. To maneuver, turn the broomstick to where you need to go. Now, hold your dominant hand over the broomstick and tell it _up_. Firmly, mind you."

Harry held out his hand and looked at the scraped broomstick. "Up."

The broom lifted smoothly from the ground and slapped into his hand, as did quite a few other brooms up and down the lines.

"Up…?"

"Neville, you need to be firm." Harry whispered to him. "You can do this."

Neville gave him a grateful look before repeating his command in a voice no longer filled with nervousness. The broom lifted up and gently settled into his hand.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Harry grinned, then he looked to his other side to see Hermione looking proudly at the broomstick in her grasp.

"Now, swing your leg over to mount the broomstick." Hooch continued and Harry _saw_ the slight aura around Neville's broom start to flicker. Quickly, he tapped Neville's shoulder and shook his head before raising his hand.

"Professor? Neville's broom was jolting slightly, I think it's broken!"

Rolanda bustled down to the broom in question and waved her wand at it, frowning at the runes that briefly flashed into view around it.

"Well spotted. Five points to Ravenclaw. This broom seems to have a flaw in the secondary control arrays… someone must have been taking it out for unsanctioned rides and crashed into something. Give it here."

Neville let Hooch take the broom and a moment later she presented him with a replacement. Under her gaze, he carefully climbed aboard and she nodded in satisfaction as she readied her own broomstick.

"Now, let's take it carefully. Push off, then lower yourself back down. You! What sort of grip is that?"

Draco stared in shock as Rolanda seemed to loom over him.

"I… this is how I always…"

"You're doing it wrong!" Rolanda exclaimed. "You started on a Falconwing Gamma, didn't you? Expensive and recalled because the control arrays were misaligned. No, move your hands to _here_ and _here_. Good. Now keep them that way!"

Several snickers were heard as Draco followed the instructions he had been given, glaring around him in frustrated embarrassment.

"Okay, now… _gently_ push upwards!"

Harry rose into the air and frowned slightly. Although the feeling of being in the air seemed to be somehow _right_ , the feeling of the broomstick between his legs seemed subtly _wrong_ somehow.

Shaking off the feeling, Harry looked around him, seeing that most of the students were already touching down again, many of them with looks of relief and triumph. Harry let himself sink back down until the springy turf pressed against his toes and Madam Hooch looked around with approval.

"Good." She smiled. "Now, repeat it twice more, then we can move on to actual flight."

.

"I can fly!" Neville laughed as they walked into the main entrance hall of Hogwarts.

"You've said that six times already." Harry chuckled, then he turned to Hermione who was smiling. "Did you enjoy it?"

"It was alright." Hermione demurred, then she giggled. "Flying on a broomstick… how stereotypical!"

"I'm definitely going to attend the extra flying classes." Harry stated. "Being in the air like that... I've read quite a bit about aerial combat… I wonder if you can do an Immelmann Turn on a broomstick?"

"I read about several maneuvers in the _History of Quidditch_." Hermione offered. "Although the Wronski Feint sounds rather risky. And what Draco tried to do before Madam Hooch dragged him off… What was he trying to do? Prove he could be a Seeker or something?"

"I… I've never played Quidditch." Neville admitted. "My gran wouldn't even let me go to see any of the games."

"Well, there's plenty of time for that." Harry shrugged, then he smiled. "You know, I think I'll buy myself a broomstick… and maybe a couple of spares."

"Harry, first-years aren't _allowed_ broomsticks!" Hermione protested.

" _At_ Hogwarts." Harry confirmed. "When did I say I would be _bringing_ a Broomstick to Hogwarts?"

Hermione paused, one finger still pointing accusingly at Harry while Neville used his hand to muffle his chuckle at her expression.

"Point." She finally admitted. "So just what _are_ you planning?"

"Well, I've asked for a sunken Quidditch field to be installed behind my house… about as deep as the pitch here is tall so that there's no real risk of non-magicals seeing what's going on and I can practise flying... along with any friends I invite over… actually, thinking about it, maybe I should see if I could arrange for new broomsticks for here. I _really_ didn't like the way that some of those brooms looked."

"Speaking as someone who almost ended up with a bad one, I think I'll try to persuade gran to help." Neville agreed. "Do you have an Account Manager?"

"Yep." Harry confirmed. "I assume the Longbottoms have one as well?"

"We do, but Gran normally deals with things like that." Neville said. "If you write to your Manager I'll send a message to Gran suggesting that it would raise the Longbottom's prestige if she helps out as well."

"It'll certainly put one in the eye of the Malfoys." Harry chuckled. "I wonder what they'll do to regain face? Nev, do you want to borrow Grace to send your letter? She seems to be getting fidgety since I don't have anyone other than Axefist to write to and I try not to waste his time with unnecessary communications."

"I'll write the letter to gran tonight." Neville decided.

"Which broom would be best?" Harry wondered and Hermione perked up.

"Ooh! I know this one! According to _Quidditch Through The Ages_ , the broom regarded as the best starter broom is…"

.

* * *

_Lord Potter_

_As per your request, I have placed an order for a sufficient number of Comet 260 Broomsticks to replace the current stock of Shooting Star Broomsticks that Hogwarts uses._

_The Longbottom Family has taken on half of the costs for this transaction and the costs have been further reduced by using your name to make the purchase with, as well as your pre-signed agreement to the Comet Trading Company that they can use your name in their press release._

_The total cost is only one-fifth of the original expected price. This can be reduced further by agreeing to participate in the public hand-over of the brooms to Hogwarts and giving an interview. Should you wish to do so, please contact the Comet Trading Company to indicate your willingness and arrange the details required._

_May you reap great profit._

_Axefist._

_Potter Family Accounts Manager._

_Gringotts Bank._

* * *

Harry handed the letter over to Neville for him to read before picking up his cup of tea and sipping it, using the action to help him focus his throughts.

"Hmmm." Neville handed the letter across to Hermione, who was almost bouncing with curiosity. "So, will you give the interview?"

"I think Axefist would be very sarcastic at our next meeting if I didn't." Harry sighed. "Shame, I don't like being famous… Nev?"

"Yes?" Neville replied as he picked up his pumpkin juice.

"I think you or your gran should give an interview too."

The spray of pumpkin juice was quite impressive.

"Can we have a towel please? Thank you."

Neville accepted the towel and used it to wipe his face, then start mopping up the puddle on the table that was threatening to drip onto him.

"He has a point." Hermione said, handing the letter back to Harry. "I mean, it wasn't _just_ Harry's idea…"

"And you should as well." Harry continued.

"You told him how to go about it and… what?! Me? Harry, I… All I did was… No."

Both boys looked at her and Hermione screwed her eyes shut. "No, Harry. No, don't you use those puppy-dog eyes on me! No! No, I'm not doing it! _No_!"

* * *

.

"…and that was how we made the decision." Harry finished as the Sunday morning sun shone down on the celebrating students surrounding the conjured table on which no less than sixty new brooms were displayed underneath the hawk-eyed gazes of Rolanda Hooch and Madam Longbottom. "It was a team effort, one turned into reality by the generosity of Mr Horton, co-founder and owner of Comet Trading Company."

The wizard in question seemed to inflate slightly with pride as he stood in line with Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger while the Daily Prophet photographer took photo after photo and the Wireless Wizarding Network reporter moved in to ensure that every word was caught and transmitted.

"I was amazed by Lord Potter's request, one made not for himself but for the whole of Hogwarts School." Mr Horton stated with a broad grin. "Lord Potter, Heir Longbottom and Miss Granger could have simply asked for brooms for themselves or for their own House, but they decided to invest their money in brooms for all the Houses of Hogwarts and the Comet Trading Company is honored that they chose to approach us to help them realize their dream..."

.

"Urgh." Harry managed as he fell into the armchair. Neville, looking almost as exhausted, followed suit as Hermione half-glared at them. "The sacrifices I have to make."

"One week in and you're already making headlines?" Hermione shook her head as she sat down on the settee facing the two boys, then she blinked as Filius Flitwick clambered up onto the settee beside her.

"Well done, you three!" He chirped. "Just a full week here and you have done more to raise the profile of Ravenclaw than anyone else in the last decade. I've discussed this with Albus and for your efforts and financial sacrifices, I'm awarding you, Miss Granger, ten points while you two get twenty points each. Madam Hooch has also awarded you points, meaning that between you, you've earned Ravenclaw _eighty_ points today!"

The other students in the common room applauded and Harry flung an arm over his face. "I didn't do it for the fame, Uncle Fil."

"We know." Filius grinned, ignoring the shocked looks that the other students were giving him and Harry. "And that's why people are paying so much attention. Why, I hear that the Board of Governors is meeting soon to discuss the ramifications of the gift you three made."

"Now _that's_ a meeting I'd like to attend." Neville said with a suddenly-predatorial grin. "I wonder how Malfoy will react?"

"Indeed." Filius mused with a similar grin. "The richest man in Wizarding Britain really should have been the first in line to donate to the school, shouldn't he?"


	12. Learning

Over the next couple of months, Harry fell into the routine of Hogwarts lessons. He and Hermione soon became friendly rivals, competing for the top spot in all their lessons save Herbology, where Neville easily outpaced the two of them but helped them in exchange for aid where he was weak. Sue Li and Padma Parvati quickly joined in what became known as the "Study Group" and at Flitwick's suggestion, they relocated it to an otherwise-disused classroom just off the library which Flitwick and McGonogall helped to transform into a place where they could study several different subjects at once, moving between tables as required.

Within weeks, Padma's twin Parvati joined the Study Group, as did several other students from Gryffindor and some from Hufflepuff, but the Slytherins remained aloof.

* * *

.

"Hermione, Professor Snape said _two_ feet of Parchment, not five." Harry groaned as Hermione continued writing.

"I want to show that I…" Hermione began before Harry, moving so quickly that he almost blurred, plucked the quill out of her hand. "Harry!"

"Come on." Harry said, half-lifting, half-pulling her out of the chair. "I think we need to go and get a second opinion."

"Harry, I do _not_ appreciate being manhandled like this!" Hermione protested as Harry escorted her out of the study room, several of the other students sniggering as she was dragged out through the door. "This is _not_ the way to treat a lady! Harry, are you even listening to me? Harry!"

"Hush, Hermione." Harry instructed. "You'll thank me for this."

"I bet I won't." Hermione sulked as they made their way to Snape's newly-refurbished and expanded (thanks to a large donation from Lucius Malfoy) Potions Classroom.

Harry knocked on the door, waiting for Snape to respond before stepping into the room.

"My apologies for interrupting, Professor," Harry said as Snape looked up from the pile of parchment he was looking through, "But I had a question about the essays you have been setting us."

Snape raised an eyebrow and motioned for Harry to continue.

"Hermione believes that the required length is a minimum, whereas I think is it a guide. If you ask for two feet of Parchment, what would be the _maximum_ length you wish to see?"

"No more than two and a half feet." Severus stated, then his eyes narrowed as Hermione flinched. "How much _have_ you written?"

"Five feet and four inches… so far." Hermione offered meekly and Severus sighed.

"For future reference, Miss Granger, when the length of an essay is specified, going more than one quarter beyond the length specified will generally result in the parchment being cut off at the upper limit and _only_ the first portion marked. While you may wish to show you can recite facts at will, it is the ordering, understanding and _interpretation_ of them that is most important. Is that clear?"

"Y… yes, sir."

"Then I would strongly suggest re-writing your essay keeping the maximum length in mind, Miss Granger. Dismissed."

Hermione bobbed her head before almost teleporting out of the door and Snape raised an eyebrow at Harry.

"And why did you bring her to _me_ instead of Flitwick or McGonogall?"

"I had another reason, so it seemed a good idea to combine both of my tasks." Harry said as he pulled a book out of his pocket and Snape stared at it almost hungrily.

"I started Mum's second Journal this morning and I remembered I said I'd lend this to you." Harry said, placing it on Snape's desk. "If you'll excuse me…"

Snape waved one hand in dismissal, his gaze never leaving the book on his desk. Harry walked to the door, then glanced back as he left.

A single tear was trickling down Snape's cheek.

* * *

.

"I got a note from… Hagrid… inviting me over for a cup of tea." Harry looked up from the piece of paper that Grace had dropped in front of him. "According to my mom's Journal, Hagrid was one of her friends. I wonder if he'll tell me about her and Dad. Want to come?"

"Well, it'll be interesting." Hermione noted and Neville looked torn.

"Nev?"

"I… I'm coming." Neville finally decided, his face set with determination. "I wonder if he can tell me about _my_ parents, too?"

.

"That's Hagrid's place?" Hermione asked curiously as they approached the large, circular wooden hut. As they drew closer, the door opened and Hagrid emerged, a large bag in his hand.

"Hello?" Harry called and the huge man waved at them, a smile visible on his face despite his huge, bushy beard.

"'ello." He called. "I was jest about ta feed tha' Thestrals. You wanna help?"

"Thestrals?" Harry repeated. "I've never heard of them before. Hermione?"

"I've come across a reference, but I didn't try to follow it up." Hermione admitted and Hagrid laughed.

"Well, come on. Friendly critters, they are. Help by pullin' tha carriages fer the second years an' up. This way!"

The trio followed Hagrid round to an apparently-empty paddock near the Hut and Hermione frowned as Hagrid carefully opened the gate.

"There's nothing there." She protested and Harry shook his head.

"No, there's… _something_. Some _things_. Kinda horse-shaped, but with wings… I can see them, but at the same time, I can't."

"Aye, magical critters, they are." Hagrid said, looking at Harry curiously. "You can only see 'em if ye've seen death itself, s'why they useda be seen as omens. 'arry, ye say ye can see 'em, yet you can't?"

"I can sort of see their shapes… like a ripple." Harry shrugged as he stepped into the paddock. "Maybe because I was so young when…"

Harry trailed off and Hagrid nodded. "Aye, mebbe. Anyway, Thestrals eat meat. Dere's a coupla-dozen Thestrals around, but most like to hunt in the Forest. Dese ones are the old or very young, so 'ere ya go!"

Hermione looked aghast at the strip of meat that Hagrid had just dropped into her hands.

"Now, jest 'old it out, like so." Hagrid instructed and Harry held his towards a small Thestral that was approaching him cautiously. The colt crept closer, then tugged the meat out of his hand and retreated, eating it as it did so.

"That's just bizarre." Hermione finally declared as she watched the strip of meat slowly vanishing.

"Bootiful creatures, Thestrals." Hagrid murmured as the meat he was holding began to vanish.

.

"I actually touched a Thestral." Hermione marveled as she sat down on the over-sized couch and accepted a huge mug of tea from Hagrid. Neville looked at the Rock Cake that Harry had taken, then winced as Harry took a bite, producing a noise not unlike shattering stone.

"Mmmm, nice." Harry said between chomps while Hermione stared wide-eyed at him. "Crunchy."

"Made 'em meself." Hagrid said proudly.

Neville covertly returned the cake he had been given back to the plate it had come from.

"So, 'ow are ya doing?" Hagrid asked after taking a bite out of his own Rock Cake, causing Hermione to flinch at the noise. "Yer dad useda love Transfiguration and _yer_ dad was great in Defense, Neville."

"He was?" Neville asked in surprise. "I… never knew that."

.

"How did you manage to eat _three_ of those cakes?" Hermione asked as they walked back to the castle. "Those things were harder than bricks! I was getting toothache just _looking_ at them!"

Harry smiled at Hermione, but Neville spoke up.

"Did you see that he had a copy of the Daily Prophet from a couple of months ago on his table?" He noted. "It said that Gringotts had been robbed!"

"I saw." Harry said, his smile vanishing. "Apparently it happened on my birthday. Odd coincidence."

For a moment, they walked in silence before Harry spoke up again.

"You know, I overheard a couple of Professors talking about putting in obstacles to protect a stone." Harry frowned. "I wonder if it could be related… Hermione, what's the most valuable stone you know of… magically speaking?"

"I… I'll have to do some resear…" Hermione began, only for Neville to cut her off.

"The two most important are the Resurrection Stone and the Philosopher's Stone."

"I've heard of the Philosopher's Stone, but what's the Resurrection Stone?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's one of the Three Hallows, created by Death itself, according to legend." Neville began as Hogwarts grew ahead of them. "The story goes that centuries ago the three Peverell Brothers managed to defeat Death, so he granted each of them a boon. The oldest asked for a wand that could never be beaten, the middle one a stone that would let him summon the spirits of the dead…"

Harry concentrated on committing the story to memory and from the way her face was slightly scrunched, Hermione was doing the same thing.

* * *

.

Harry laughed as he pulled off a perfect Immelman Turn, reversing his direction in a single climbing maneuver, then he circled round and dropped down to intercept the ball that Hermione was throwing to Neville. To his surprise, the ball seemed to adhere to his hand until he made a throwing motion, whereupon the odd sensation vanished and the ball arced away.

"What is that?" He asked curiously.

"It's a spare Quaffle." Neville supplied. "Madam Hooch let us borrow it so we could practise flying while passing it. Hermione's very good at blocking it."

"School PE lessons." Hermione admitted.

"Well, you both look like you know what you're doing." Harry grinned, then he ducked as Neville scooped the ball up from the ground and hurled it at him. A moment later, the Quaffle bounced off the back of his head and he turned to see Hermione looking overly innocent while Neville chuckled.

"So, will you be trying out for the team next year?" Harry asked and Hermione looked thoughtful.

"...probably not." She finally decided. "I'm not really a sporty type. I always preferred reading to P.E."

"I prefer gardening." Neville admitted. "I mean, flying's nice, but you just can't beat the feel of good, fine, rich soil as you tamp it down around the roots of your newest plant."

Harry tilted his broom up and slowly spun on the spot, then he back-rolled into a flying position.

"I'm going to do a few more laps." He called. "Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Hermione's response was a well-flung Quaffle which Harry laughingly snagged and threw back before accelerating away.

* * *

.

Harry opened the door and looked up at the three-headed dog.

"You must be Fluffy." He smiled, lifting one hand… which the right-head of the Cerberus promptly bit. For a moment, the hellhound froze, then the head released its grip and whimpered slightly before a tooth fragment landed on the floor.

"There, there." Harry chuckled as he stroked the sulking head, then he reached out and started to stroke the other two heads. "You're quite friendly after all, aren't you?"

A gasp from behind him made him look round to see Hagrid's startled expression.

"Hello, Hagrid." Harry said with a smile. "Nice dog, this."

"Aye, that he is." Hagrid agreed, moving to start stroking the third head. "Fluffy's a real friendly puppy once you show him yer in charge."

Harry grinned as Hagrid continued talking about the care and feeding of Cerberus', then he glanced down at the trapdoor on which the dog was resting. To his amazement, the trapdoor seemed to go almost transparent, letting him see the vines stretching across the room underneath.

"…and he loves ta play fetch, don'tcha Fluffy?" Hagrid remarked enthusiastically as the head he was stroking started to lick him before stopping with a whimper.

"Hagrid, Fluffy may need some dental help." Harry said, picking up the fang fragment and holding it up so that the huge man could see it.

"Blimey, yer right, 'arry." Hagrid said in shock, his eyebrows shooting up. "Well, a potion or two an' 'e'll be right as rain, you'll see."


	13. Halloween Reflections

Harry walked down another corridor, carefully adding it to his mental map of Hogwarts. Although most of the corridors and staircases he had explored seemed to adhere to the normal rules of space and time, several had some… unusual quirks.

One of the corridors, despite being completely straight from the inside _and_ in a completely different area of the castle, somehow inverted and briefly opened as it crossed the ceiling of the entry hall, allowing the people walking along the corridor to look up and see the people by the main door looking up at them in return. At least three of the staircases went up, yet somehow took the user to a lower floor while two of the doors seemed to act as portals, transporting anyone who passed through them to the far end of the castle.

Those were simple compared to a few of the other things he had encountered, however. The Infinite Staircase was a case in point, Harry had examined it carefully and even though he _knew_ that there had to be at least a space/time twist to allow the hanging square staircase with its seven corner landings to connect back to itself without descending, he had been unable to find it.

The fact that the landings led out to non-sequential floors just added to the weirdness.

A scratching noise caught his attention and he moved to the doorway that the sound was emanating from. Pushing gently at the slightly-open door, he remained quiet as it swung open to reveal a white-haired man in a colorful robe, sat with his back to the door as he worked at something on a desk while to one side, a large mirror stood, its magical nature instantly obvious by the fact that it did not reflect the far window, but was instead filled with swirling mists.

The man stopped writing just as Harry recognized him.

"Hello." He said, turning and Harry found himself meeting Headmaster Dumbledore's curious gaze. "Ah, Harry, good morning. I do hope you're not playing truant."

Harry shook his head. "No, sir. First period on Thursday is free, but I have Herbology next."

Dumbledore nodded, then glanced sideways at the freestanding mirror. Harry followed his gaze, moving into the room for a better look.

"Sir… what _is_ that?"

"This is the Mirror of Erised." Dumbledore said with a smile. "See if you can work out why it is called that, hmm?"

Harry looked at the mirror carefully,then he spotted the inscription on the edge.

" _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_? Well, that isn't Latin, nor is it German, French… wait. No, you have to be kidding me. Someone just wrote it backwards and shifted the spaces?"

"Ah, I see you have discovered its secret." Dumbledore noted.

" _I show not your face but your heart's desire_." Harry quoted, then he shuddered. "That doesn't sound good."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up at the statement. "Oh?"

"I used to do a _lot_ of reading." Harry said in a flat voice. "When I was younger, I read some fairy tales, then I moved on to the darker ones… showing someone their heart's desire… what they want above all else… it sounds like a trap to me."

Dumbledore applauded. " _Very_ good, Harry. Yes indeed, to those unprepared or weak-willed, the Mirror of Erised is indeed a trap, causing them to stand before it and stare into it until they waste away. But for those who are prepared and are strong-willed, the Mirror is but a tool that helps one to truly understand oneself. Why, those who are young often see themselves as being powerful, famous or having a harem whereas those who are more experienced such as myself…"

Harry gave Dumbledore a questioning look as the old man trailed off.

"Do you wish to look into it?"

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Do you wish to look into it?" Dumbledore repeated with a smile. "I assure you, I will be happy to make certain that you are not entranced by it."

Harry gave the mirror a long look, then shook his head.

"No. Why risk throwing away my current happiness for something that I might never be able to have."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose again.

"That is very mature of you."

"I did a _lot_ of reading." Harry replied by way of explanation.

"I shall be keeping the mirror in this room until the new year, although the door will be secured when I am not here." Dumbledore said, turning back to his desk and moving a few pieces of parchment around. "I admit to curiosity about what you would see, so should you change your mind, I will be happy to aid you. In return, let me tell you what I see when I look in the Mirror."

Harry froze.

"I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."

Despite not making a sound, Harry's shock must have somehow communicated itself because Dumbledore looked at him, eyes twinkling.

"When you reach my age, my boy, you will find that you can never have too many socks. Hogwarts is a rather draughty castle, after all."

Harry stared in confusion at Dumbledore, who simply smiled at him before turning back to whatever work he was doing. Letting the door close behind him, Harry walked off, shaking his head.

"Socks?"

* * *

.

"…and today, we shall practice the _Levitation Spell_." Flitwick announced as he used a swish of his wand to explode a pillow, sending a feather to land in front of every student in the class. Pausing to bow at the round of spontaneous applause, he straightened up and motioned to the Blackboard, where a diagram and a pair of words appeared.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing." He chirped with a wide smile. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And pronunciation is very important. Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and ended up with a buffalo on his chest!"

Harry looked at his feather for a long moment, then up at the board. Slowly, he moved his wand, practicing the motion but without actually performing the spell.

" _Wingardiam Leviosa!_ " Hermione swished and flicked her wand, sending the feather up into the air where, a moment later, it was joined by Neville's.

"Nice one, Hermione, Nev." Harry said with an appreciative chuckle, then he turned his attention back to his own feather. " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

The feather twitched and rose about half an inch before falling back onto the desk.

"Hmmmmm. Okay, let's try that again. _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

This time, the feather rose a full inch before dropping back down.

"Any hints?"

"Your swish isn't smooth enough." Hermione said critically. "Your flick is almost perfect, though."

"I'm sure that a mudblood like you would be happy to worship his _flick_." Malfoy sneered from the desk behind them and Hermione half-turned to give him a glare.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Neville grated. "You haven't even managed to _move_ your feather yet. Some example of a Pureblood _you_ are."

Malfoy sniffed, but Harry saw him pull out a second wand that he pointed at Hermione. Before he could fire whatever spell he intended to use, Harry reached back and shoved Malfoy's desk, knocking his aim off. The spell passed between Hermione and Neville before Flitwick swatted it away with his wand, causing it to splash against the wall.

"That, Mr Malfoy, will be twenty points from Slytherin and a detention." He stated, his normal jovial tone replaced by an icy calm that caused most of the students to freeze with fear. "And if I _ever_ catch you using one of those again in Hogwarts, I will see you or your father in the dueling ring!"

"W… what spell was it, sir?" Hermione asked nervously and Flitwick growled.

"One that temporarily destabilizes a person's magic." He stated. "The more a person has trained, the shorter the effect. Had it hit me, it would have lasted for only a mere fraction of a second. For you… as you are so new to magic, it would have lasted for almost three months. This time next year, the effect would be a few days at worst."

"Three… three months?" Hermione whispered, going pale. "But that would… I…"

Flitwick looked at her, then pointed at Draco.

"From now on, you will sit at the front where I can keep an eye on you. I will also be warning all the other teachers of your actions, if _anyone_ ends up with _Magical Destabilisation_ , you _will_ be expelled unless you can prove under _Veritaserum_ that it wasn't you. Understand?"

Draco nodded, looking almost as pale as Hermione.

.

Hermione was still trembling at the end of the lesson and Neville gave her a concerned look.

"Hermione?"

"I remembered the rules!" Hermione whispered. "For the first six months, if someone loses control of their magic and can't get it back under control within three weeks, a Governor can petition to have that student's magic sealed and their memory erased! Draco's father is a Governor!"

"Shit." Harry cursed. "What's the bet that he was trying to get rid of you because you were making him look bad?"

"Actually, it's more likely to be because she's your friend." Neville mused, earning a shocked look from Hermione. "Lucius Malfoy is known for indirect attacks. Getting rid of one of your two closest friends and thus weakening you would be quite a coup for him… and it would also allow him to make a move against allowing Muggleborns into Hogwarts as he could have used Hermione as proof that Muggleborns can't cope with learning magic in the same schools as Purebloods."

Neville looked at both of their flabbergasted expressions, then shrugged.

"I _am_ Heir Longbottom, Gran forced me to learn politics even though she thought I was a Squib. Probably on a _better safe than sorry_ basis, but I did learn. Part of it was learning about the allies and enemies of House Longbottom… and Malfoy is most definitely an enemy."

"What would have happened had the spell hit _you_?" Harry asked and Neville grinned almost ferally.

"Gran would have called every single ally of House Longbottom together, called in every single favor and declared a Blood Feud."

"All because Draco learned a spell." Harry marveled as he finished packing away his notes.

"Actually, he used a Battlestick since the amount of control needed to cast that spell isn't attainable until one completes their OWLs and moves onto the more advanced methods of spellcasting." Flitwick commented from his desk. "A cheap one with only one spell… well, I say cheap, it must have cost at least two hundred galleons _and_ it can't be re-used once the spell is fired. I've come up against duellers who use Battlesticks, it lets them fire spells fast and with no personal magical cost, but they need to pre-plan their tactics so that they can have the spells loaded in the correct order and should their adversary do something they do not expect, it renders their remaining spells virtually useless. Since Draco effectively wasted so much of his father's money, I doubt he will be doing anything like that again."

" _That's_ why you phrased your threat that way!" Harry said in realization and Flitwick smirked.

"Indeed. It is a good thing that Draco is less than accurate, but I would have taken Lucius to the dueling ring had he tried to follow through and once Draco reports his failure, Lucius will know that I am watching him. He will not do anything like that again. Not if he wants to live."

Hermione stared in shock at Flitwick's suddenly-revealed violent aspect.

"Well, off you go, and don't be late to the feast!"

.

"Sue, where's Hermione?"

Sue Li looked across from where she and Padma were discussing something over a plate of pumpkin pie while around them, the decorations for the Halloween Feast floated and fluttered.

"She said she was feeling rather shaky, so she went to the eastern walkway to get some fresh air."

"Okay, thanks." Harry replied, then looked round. "Hey, Nev, can you pass the potatoes, please?"

"Nice alliteration." Padma giggled and Harry promptly proved his moral superiority and maturity by sticking his tongue out at her, causing Sue Li to join her in giggling at his actions.

"Here you go." Neville smirked, passing the requested dish across and Harry accepted it with a grateful nod. Picking up his fork, he stabbed one of the potatoes and started to transfer it onto his plate when the doors slammed open and Professor Quirrell staggered through, his jacket ripped and his turban askew.

"Troll!" He gasped, his voice surprisingly loud in the sudden silence. "Troll in the dungeons… thought you should know…"

As the DADA Professor collapsed on the floor, Harry summed it up in a single word.

"Bugger."


	14. Rescue

"Nev, you tell the Prefects that Hermione's not here, I'll go and find her." Harry half-whispered while Ravenclaw House filed out of the Great Hall as they started their retreat back to their tower.

Neville nodded and Harry ducked into one of the side-corridors, waiting until the last Ravenclaw had passed before setting off at a pace that no normal human could have matched.

.

Hermione stepped back from the stone railing and inhaled deeply, enjoying the autumnal scents in the crisp air. Above her, the stars glittered and sparkled, their cold beauty helping her to re-center herself.

Her stomach grumbled slightly and she looked down at it.

"Hush, you. I'm almost done."

Her stomach grumbled again and she nodded.

"You could be right. Time to get some food."

Moving to the end of the walkway, she opened the door and stepped inside Hogwarts, moving up one flight of the Infinite Stairs in order to descend almost to the ground floor, then she stepped into the corridor and paused.

"Hands." She groaned, looking at the mossy stains on her palms. Looking round, she spotted that one of the doors was marked with the symbol for "Toilet, Female" and she entered, moving to the sinks where she turned on the tap before picking up a bar of soap.

.

"Is everyone here?" Flitwick asked as he scurried into the tower and the male seventh-year Prefect nodded.

"We've checked them all, sir. All Ravens are present and accounted for."

"Except for two!" Neville called out, despite the attempt of the fifth-year Prefect to silence him. "Hermione was taking a walk in the fresh air and Harry's gone to bring her here!"

"Shut up!" The Sixth-former hissed, then he froze as he realized that Filius was turning to look at him. The half-Goblin seemed to swell as he glared at the Prefects.

"All. Present. And. Accounted. For? _Two_ are missing , one of them the _Boy-who-lived_ and yet you say they're _all here_?" He growled, glaring at the six suddenly-cringing students. "Your status as Prefects is hereby suspended and once the Troll has been dealt with, I will be asking you certain _questions_ to see if it should be revoked! Afterwards, I am calling a Prefect Meeting to induct any new ones into their positions and I will make _damned_ certain that they _and_ any of you who still carry the badge _know_ what's expected of them!"

Neville scurried to Flitwick's side.

"Sir, until they agree not to try to seek revenge, I think I'd be safer watching you confront the troll."

Flitwick motioned to Neville to follow him out of the tower. As the door closed behind him, he spoke.

"You were very brave just then… almost Gryffindor-ish, in fact. You can wait in my office until I return."

"Thank you, sir."

.

Hermione finished drying her hands and opened the door. For a moment, her mind failed to comprehend the sight before her, then the giant shape moved and Hermione closed the door as quietly as she could in an attempt to avoid attracting the attention of the monster standing just outside.

Once the door was closed, Hermione backed away to the far end of the room , reaching out to open the final cubicle so that she could hide. Before she could do so, the Toilet door exploded as a club slammed through it and despite her best attempts to stay quiet, Hermione screamed.

.

"Shit!" Harry hissed as he skidded to a halt and reversed course. "She must have got past me! I'm coming!"

.

Hermione stared in horror as the troll shouldered its way through the door, sending bits of the surrounding masonry bouncing across the floor as its gaze fixed on her. The troll slowly stood up, standing over two foot taller than Hagrid before a predatorial grin appeared on its face. Hefting its club, it took a step forwards, then the club arced down, smashing the first sink. The club, un-slowed by the ceramic obstacle, then slammed into the first cubicle on the other side, shattering it and the troll made a noise somewhere between a growl and a chortle as Hermione reflexively tried to press herself further into the corner of the room.

"No!" She whimpered as the troll stalked closer, each step accompanied by another blow that shattered a sink or a cubicle. "Stay away!"

The troll paused only a couple of paces away from her, then with slow deliberation, it raised its club before the wall next to it exploded. The troll didn't even have time to react before it was sent through the other wall and into a deserted classroom, where it bounced off the far wall before slowly toppling like a felled sequoia while the fragments of its club bounced on the ground.

Hermione stared in shock at the huge hole in the wall, through which the crumpled form of the now-insensate troll that had been trying to attack her was still visible under the settling dust. Her rescuer, who had burst through the other wall in a shower of masonry, turned to smile at her.

"Are you alright? I got here as soon as I could."

Hermione nodded, then the events caught up with her and she fainted. Harry walked over to her and effortlessly picked her up bridal style.

"Oh well, let's get you to the infirmary." He smiled. "Good thing I heard your scream. Didn't know I could move that fast."

.

Minerva McGonogall halted in her tracks as she stared in shock at the sight before her. The troll was out cold on the ground, having been knocked through a wall, and its club was lying in two pieces (and scattered splinters) in the girls bathroom which had a missing door and a _second_ hole in the wall.

From how it was lying, it looked like several of its ribs were broken.

A set of footsteps sounded, but Minerva didn't look at the newcomer since her attention was fully focused on the impossibility in front of her.

"How…?" Severus Snape started and Minerva shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know. Hagrid, perhaps?"

"The oaf would have dragged it to his hut for a cup of tea." Snape snorted. "No, this is… something new…"

"But what?" Minerva asked helplessly. "It _looks_ like it was blasted through two walls, but this hole isn't big enough and the door's been destroyed. What happened?"

"I don't know." Severus admitted as he stepped through the hole, dodging a falling brick, and approached the troll. "Minerva, could you take care of that?"

Minerva quickly transfigured the edges of the holes to reinforce them and hold the other bricks in place, then she joined Severus in looking down at the troll.

"Perhaps you should send a message to the others, telling them that we've found the troll." Severus suggested after a long minute.

"…right."

.

"Hello?" Harry called as he used his back to push open the door to the Infirmary. "Anyone here?"

"Coming!" A voice called and a moment later, a middle-aged witch appeared. "Oh my, what happened?"

"Close encounter with a troll." Harry said, following the witch and lowering her onto the bed that the woman indicated. "I don't think she took any physical damage, but…"

"She's just fainted." The woman said, her wand seeming to dance as she cast several spells. "She'll wake up soon… Mr. Potter."

Harry blinked. "Sorry, have we met?"

"Oh yes, I'm the one who checked you over after your birth." The woman smiled. "I would have been the midwife, but the Death Eaters launched several attacks that day, preventing me from attending. I'm Poppy Pomfrey, Mediwitch."

"Well, you know who I am," Harry said with a wry smile, "And this is Hermione Granger."

Hermione's stomach rumbled and Harry bit down on a laugh.

"I think she's hungry."

"As a professional Mediwitch, I agree." Pomfrey said with a smile. "Tippy!"

A small House Elf wearing a spotless white pillowcase and white rope belt appeared. "Missy Poppy called?"

"Yes, could you get a full meal here…"

Harry coughed to get her attention. "Can you make that two? I'm a bit hungry from carrying her here."

" _Two_ meals please, Tippy."

The Elf bowed and vanished as Hermione opened her eyes. For a moment, she simply stared at the ceiling, then sat up with a yelp.

"Troll!"

"We got away from it." Harry stated before Hermione could work herself up or divulge the fact he was strong enough to power through a wall to take out a troll. "You're in the medical wing."

"Oh." Hermione paused as she took in her surroundings. "Oh…"

Before she could formulate any questions, Hermione was distracted by a tray full of food appearing on her lap.

"Eat up." Poppy commanded. "You shouldn't be missing meals at your age."

Under Poppy's stern gaze, Hermione picked up the knife and fork. Soon, she was staring in near-shock at the clean plate in front of her.

"Looks like you needed that." Harry chuckled from his chair as he slid his own now-empty tray onto the bedside table. "So, once we get confirmation that there aren't any other trolls, we can head back to the tower… right?"

"The troll has been taken care of." A new voice stated and both Harry and Hermione turned to see Filius standing in the doorway. "It has been sent to a reservation in Dartmoor. Miss Granger, I am glad to see you are well. Poppy?"

"I can't find anything wrong with her that a good night's sleep won't cure." Pomfrey replied, chivying Hermione off the bed.

"Excellent." Filius smiled. "Come on, let's get you back to the tower… and pick up young Mr Longbottom on the way."

"What happened to him?" Harry asked worriedly.

"He is fine." Filius said reassuringly, then he scowled. "However, he did bring to my attention a problem that I have been remiss in ignoring until now…"

* * *

.

Filius stood on his raised platform, glaring at the assembled fifth, sixth and seventh-year Ravenclaws, not trace of his normal good-nature on his face.

"I am _very_ disappointed with you." He said in a flat tone, causing the four former Prefects to flinch and several others to wince. "Ravenclaw House is _supposed_ to be the house of the intelligent, those who have wit and those who seek to ask questions in order to deepen their understanding of the great mysteries, _not_ a house where the only allowable answers are found in books and anyone who dares go against the common belief is ostracized. I can only be grateful that it has only been this way for a couple of years, yet I find myself at fault for not noticing sooner."

The assembled students remained silent, barely breathing as Flitwick stood before them, anger radiating out of him as well as a sense of danger, reminding all of them that Flitwick had been the Champion Duelist in the European circuit for five consecutive years before he retired in order to devote his time to teaching.

"It is bad enough that I have had to deal with an attempted assault on one of our own, but to find out that no less than _three_ of my Ravens subscribe to the foolishness of blood-bigotry? I am tempted to order a re-sorting for you, but from your actions I fear that you have no cunning, little bravery and no loyalty! As it is, you two are removed from the Quidditch team as of today and _you_ will report back to the tower every evening after dinner and remain here until it is time for breakfast, the only exception being for your advanced astronomy classes. Is that understood?"

The trio who had been singled out nodded and Filius sighed.

"As it is, I shall be overseeing the Quidditch Trials tomorrow for the replacement players. Since the whole house kept quiet, _all_ positions are open and I shall be allowing the first-years to try out."

Several of the students moved as if they were about to protest, but Filius glared them into silence.

"Perhaps you should reflect on what happened today, the next time you consider keeping quiet about victimization, bullying or ignoring those who need aid."


	15. Quidditch And Questing

"Are you sure about this?" Hermione asked as Harry stood ready to walk onto the Quidditch pitch.

"Of course." Harry said with a slight smile. "I think I'd make a very good keeper, thanks."

"Well, I…" Hermione broke off for a long moment, then sighed as she looked up to watch Ravenclaw's current Reserve Seeker, the second-year student Cho Chang, effortlessly outmaneuvering the only other Raven who had decided to test out for the forcibly-vacated position. Her breath caught as Cho suddenly pitched into a vertical dive, pulling out so low that her feet were barely four feet away from the ground. The dark-haired boy trying to claim the position of Seeker barely managed to pull up in time to avoid impacting the ground, then Cho spun round and descended with the Snitch glinting in her hand.

"Yeah, no way am I going to match that." Harry chuckled appreciatively. "I think that Keeper's going to be my preferred spot."

"I've read _Quidditch through the Ages_ and _He flew like a madman_. The Keeper is the second-most dangerous position after Seeker!"

"Hermione, do you _really_ think I'm that easy to hurt?" Harry half-whispered before he trotted onto the pitch, leaving Hermione staring at him, her mind replaying how he'd smashed through a wall to take down the troll.

"How do you think he'll do?" Neville asked as he walked up to stand beside her. Hermione looked over to where the Keeper and Chaser candidates were assembling, Sue Li amongst them.

"I… think he'll be okay…" She finally said and Neville smiled.

"You know, if you want to cheer him on, I'll join in."

Hermione _huff_ ed, although she couldn't stop herself from smiling as the prospective players rose up into the air. The first Keeper candidate floated across the hover in front of the goal-hoops and the chaser candidates swooped in one by one, flinging Quaffles at the goals.

.

"You scared me, you prat!" Hermione punctuated her declaration with a swat to Harry's head, but the light blow didn't stop him laughing. "Hanging on with one hand… Why would you _do_ something like that?"

"It let me block the shot." Harry pointed out as Neville watched Hermione with an amused expression. "And I got onto the team… although I'll need to get a new broomstick. The 260 is a great broom for _learning_ on, but I need something with good acceleration for goalkeeping. Top speed wouldn't be an issue, only agility and acceleration so I can get to where I'm needed."

Hermione paused. "Well, Comet do specialized Quidditch lines, you'd probably need the Comet K4, it's the most recent model and it was developed with the aid of… Harry James Potter! Stop distracting me like that!"

"You almost got away with it." Neville chuckled, ducking the dope-slap that Hermione sent in his direction. "That was a good block, though. I think even Professor Flitwick was impressed."

"Indeed I was, Mr Longbottom." Flitwick confirmed as he landed beside them on his custom-shortened broomstick. "Mr Potter, although rules say that First-years cannot have their own broomsticks, there is nothing about me purchasing a new broomstick for myself and allowing you to use it. Why, you might even like it so much that you could ask me to sell it to you at the end of the year…"

"That's… _sophistry_!" Hermione gasped and Filius nodded.

"Indeed it is, Miss Granger, but you saw how well Harry did up there and he's not even winded! Between a keeper as good as he is and the talents of Miss Chang, I do believe that Ravenclaw has a chance of winning the Quidditch Cup this year."

"Thanks." Harry smiled, then he glanced over to where Roger Davis was having an intense discussion with the other two seekers. After a moment, he walked over to the Beaters, then hurried across to where Flitwick was standing.

"Cho." He nodded in greeting. "Harry… good job out there, if you can keep up that level, we'll be able to rack up the points easily. Cho, you've been practicing."

"I intended to get to the position of Starting Seeker _before_ my OWLs." Cho responded. "I didn't expect it to be _this_ early, though…"

"I know." Roger said with a sigh. "Sir, we're going to need extra practice. While we're only up against Hufflepuff first, we only have a week or so to get into shape with our line-up changed so much."

"I quite agree… _captain_ Davis." Flitwick smiled and Roger paused, a look of shock on his face.

"What the… but… me?"

"You." Flitwick agreed. "You are the one trying to sort everything out and you have proven yourself to be a superior chaser, I believe that you should take the captaincy."

"I… um… thank you, sir!" Roger stammered before inhaling deeply to try and regain his equilibrium. "Harry, I'm sorry but you'll need a new broom, the 260 just won't cut it…"

"We're already taking care of that." Filius interjected. "What sort are we getting?"

"A Comet K4." Harry supplied. "Given Hogwarts current standing, we can probably get a few other brooms from their Quidditch lines almost at cost…"

"Excellent!" Roger grinned. "Cho, work with Harry to get yourself a Comet S2. The S3 may be slightly faster, but it has cornering issues at the higher speeds. You're small enough that you'll be able to take full advantage of the maneuverability it grants. I'll need to upgrade too… in fact, we may all go for it. I need to talk with the others!"

Harry chuckled as Roger half-ran towards the other members of the team, earning a curious look from Cho.

"I wonder if he's looking for a Quidditch position when he leaves?"

"He is… or a place with a Broomstick company." Filius stated sagely. "Being the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, especially… if you'll pardon me for saying this, having the _Boy-who-lived_ on his team, will give him quite a boost when he enters his chosen career."

Harry winced. "I hate my fame."

"Doesn't stop you using it, though." Filius shot back as he moved away.

"Welcome to the team." Cho smiled. "You know, you may be the youngest Keeper ever at Hogwarts."

"He is." Hermione supplied as she moved to stand by Harry's side almost protectively. "The next youngest Keeper was Johanson ' _Flying Wall'_ Crabbe who became the Slytherin Keeper at the age of fourteen and gained his nickname through his use of the _Starfish On A Stick_ technique in every match."

Cho stared at Hermione in shock and the younger girl blushed.

"Is there anything you _don't_ know?" She finally asked, causing Harry and Neville to frantically muffle their laughter.

.

"Okay, here we have the changing rooms." Roger Davis said as he showed Harry around. "You can see the Broomstick Storage Lockers at the entrances, they're magically locked so as to open only for teachers or members of the team in question. However, we rarely use them since we discovered three years ago that all the non-Slytherin Brooms were being covertly sabotaged with hexes that cut their speed and agility by about a tenth. Once your broom arrives, keep it in your room. The lockers aren't used any more.

"The changing rooms each have shower areas, male and female. Girls can't enter the boys shower and vice-versa, there's a gender-linked ward two paces in. The shower areas can also double as changing areas if you're shy, have body issues or need to change your underwear.

"Now, any questions?"

Harry shook his head. "Nope, I think I've got it. Thanks for taking the time to show me."

Roger smiled as he waved for Harry to accompany him back out of the arena and back towards Hogwarts.

"Anyway, that should be it. If you have any questions, just ask and remember to check the noticeboard, training times will be posted tomorrow morning."

"Thanks again." Harry smiled, then he looked at the distant hut and the shape of the Groundskeeper chopping wood outside it. "If you'll excuse me, I think it's time for me to say hello to Hagrid again and pinch a couple more of his rock cakes."

"I have _no_ idea how you can eat those things." Roger said in mock-wonder as he altered course. "Have fun."

Harry waved before jogging down the hill. Hagrid saw him coming, finished throwing a half-log in the woodpile and waved.

"'eyup, 'arry!" He rumbled happily. "'eard from Flitwick dat ye was on the Quidditch team. Well done!"

"Thanks, Hagrid." Harry replied as he picked up one of the logs and placed it on the scarred stump for Hagrid to chop. The half-giant nodded in gratitude and brought the axe down in a quick arc, sending the resulting halves of the log arcing outwards to land in the two woodpiles that flanked the stump. Wordlessly, Harry placed another log on the stump.

.

"Yer wantin a scon?" Hagrid asked as he opened the door, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief that could be mistaken for a small tablecloth.

"Yep, I really like them." Harry agreed as he followed Hagrid into the hut… and almost staggered at the unexpected heat that blasted out. Looking round, he quickly spotted the roaring fire and the item above it, held in a wire-mesh net.

"Hagrid… what is that?"

"It's a dragon egg." Hagrid said proudly. "Won it las' night in a game of cards from a man seeking advice about Cerberuses. Gotta keep it warm, but still got a few months until it 'atches."

Harry gave the egg a long, contemplative look.

"Hagrid… out of interest, don't dragons need a license to raise?"

.

"Hermione, I need some research done." Harry said quietly and Hermione looked up from the essay she was re-writing after her first draft had come out at double the maximum allowable length.

"About what?" Hermione asked absently.

"Getting a Dragon License."

For a long moment, Hermione didn't react, then she almost launched herself out of her chair. "What?!"

"Keep it down, Hermione!" Harry hissed urgently."It's not for me!"

Hermione paused, one hand an inch from Harry's collar. "Who?"

"Hagrid."

Hermione winced. "How did he get a dragon?"

"He hasn't… yet." Harry admitted. "Any ideas?"

"Professor Kettleburn is the Care of Magical Creatures teacher." Hermione mused and Harry managed not to roll his eyes at the proof that Hermione had been memorizing as much as she could about Hogwarts. "Perhaps you could ask Professor Flitwick to take you to him."

"Thanks, Hermione." Harry grinned, giving her a quick hug, then he hurried off, not noticing Hermione blushing slightly as she sat down and picked up her quill.

.

"Professor Kettleburn?"

The scarred man looked up from the book he was perusing and Harry paused briefly at the sight of the wooden prosthetic that had replaced the man's left arm.

"Ah, Mr Potter, isn't it? Our most recognizable student. How can I help you?"

Harry managed to ignore the way that the burn mark covering Professor Kettleburn's left cheek twisted his otherwise-welcoming smile. "Professor, hypothetically speaking, if I wanted to apply for a Dragon License…"

"Oh for Morgana's sake!" Kettleburn levered himself out of his chair and tottered forwards on a pair of wooden feet. "Hagrid _promised_ that the Cerberus guarding the stone was going to be this year's only high-rated creature and now he's picked up a _dragon_?"

"It hasn't hatched yet." Harry supplied as Kettleburn grabbed a walking stick and started moving towards the office door with a surprising turn of speed for someone with only half a leg.

"Thank Merlin for small favors." He grumbled. "Come on, let's tell Albus he needs to do another round of damage control… possibly _literally_ this time."

* * *

.

"He's _keeping_ it?" Hermione said in a voice that was too calm. Harry nodded slowly, making sure that he was out of her reach.

"Dumbledore's put in a request for a special dragon-pen to be built and he knows a recent graduate who's trying to get a job studying dragons." Harry said, trying to calm Hermione down. "He's hiring him to help look after the dragon when it hatches, he'll be acting as Professor Kettleburn's assistant… although he'll apparently be spending a fortnight in Romania every other month studying dragons there as well."

Hermione looked thoughtful at that news.

"Well, if the Headmaster says it's okay, then… fine."

Harry relaxed slightly.

"Did you know that as part of his job as Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Kettleburn automatically _has_ a license to raise dragons?" Hermione added.

"Well, apparently Dumbledore has one as well." Harry responded. "And Hagrid's applying for one too."

Hermione froze and Harry shook his head.

"No, he's promised Dumbledore that he'll limit himself to just one dragon and when it starts getting too big, it'll go to a sanctuary."

"Thank Merlin." Hermione whispered.


	16. Twice Is Not Coincidence

The roar of sound as the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams walked out of the tunnel was almost solid. Roger Davis didn't hesitate as he strode to the center of the pitch and waited for Madam Hooch to place the box holding the four balls on the turf.

As the two captains shook hands, Harry glanced at the crowded stands. At the front of the teachers box, Filius Flitwick grinned while sat on his specially-raised chair while beside him, holding a large packet of popcorn which Filius occasionally stole from, was Ponoma Sprout. The other teachers were scattered through the box but Dumbledore was absent from his throne-like chair, apparently due to a meeting with Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. Snape skulked in the corner and at the front, Professor Quirrel leaned slightly over the banister for a better view, one hand holding his turban onto his head as the loose end flapped in the wind.

"…and may the best team win." Madam Hooch finished. "Now, take your positions!"

Harry jumped into the air, holding the broomstick so that it carried him up as he swung himself onto it, his flight-path a smooth curve towards the Ravenclaw Goal-hoops. Once there, he spun round and raised himself up to the top of the center hoop, allowing him to dive into position at an instant's notice.

The first ball that Madam Hooch released was the Golden Snitch, followed by the Bludgers, then she threw the Quaffle into the air before ascending to get a good view of the action. The box, unattended, vanished, but Harry caught an incredibly brief distortion in the shape of a House Elf as it did so.

The starting whistle sounded and Harry caught Cho's eye before pointing to the Hufflepuff goalposts. Cho followed his motion and then accelerated past the Hufflepuff Seeker as she aimed for the Golden Snitch that was circling the leftmost pole.

Harry turned his attention to the Quaffle which was being carried by Roger Davis. As one of the Hufflepuff Beaters slammed a Bludger towards him, Roger rolled and used the roll to power his pass, sending the Quaffle to the second Chaser in what was obviously a pre-planned tactic.

Harry absently drifted left just enough to avoid the second Bludger that hurtled past him, then he moved back into position as one of the Hufflepuff Chasers managed to intercept a pass with a vertical climb that caught the Ravenclaw Chasers by surprise. Harry used the returning Bludger as an impromptu kick-stool to begin accelerating upwards, then he looped over and dived down, intercepting the Quaffle and passing it to one of the Ravenclaw chasers before spiralling back up to guard the goals again, once more dodging a Bludger.

Harry frowned slightly as the Bludger rocketed away, then reversed course and flew back at him, aiming directly for his head. Motion in the stands showed him that Hermione had noticed the problem, but that was a distant concern. Although he was (probably) more than tough enough to take the impact or simply punch the Bludger away, it would give away the fact that he was far stronger (and more resilient) than any human had any right to be.

Neville tried to shout something and Harry grinned as a thought occurred to him. As the Bludger lined itself up and accelerated to almost three times the speed it had been moving before, Harry flipped the broom into a spin around a vertical axis and caught the Bludger, redirecting it straight down with as much strength as he could. The iron ball slammed into the earth and shattered, the magic imbuing it dissipating as the outer case turned into little more than curved pieces of shrapnel. Continuing the spin, Harry redirected the Quaffle before it could pass through the hoop, sending it rocketing past the attacking Chasers and into Roger's hands.

" _..and Potter just took out a faulty Bludger with a move I've never seen before!"_ The announcer that Harry had been ignoring almost screamed. _"It's no wonder that the Puff's can't get the Quaffle through the hoops, what chance does the_ Quaffle _have when Potter can block a_ Bludger _bare-handed?!"_

Harry glanced down at the wreckage below, then turned his attention back to the game, catching Cho's eye and pointing her to the left where the Snitch was hovering near the base of the Slytherin Banner.

.

"Merlin's balls!" Neville gasped as he dropped back down into his seat. "He just… I've heard games on the radio, but… How?"

Hermione simply watched Harry regain his composure, her mind whirring as she tried to figure out exactly how he had (once again) achieved something that she had previously believed to be impossible.

.

"Now _that_ was more skill than I've ever seen before!" Flitwick exulted before half-turning to look at Snape. "Severus, I don't think your team is going to be able to do its usual trick of taking down the Keeper with Bludgers any more."

"Indeed." Snape said, his eyes fixed on the glinting of shattered iron in the grass. "I am certain that Flint is paying close attention to this match."

"I _so_ have to get him on the Dueling Circuit." Flitwick muttered to himself, stealing another handful of popcorn while Quirrell moved across for a better view. "With reflexes like _those_ …"

.

Harry grinned as the score rose to 160-0 for Ravenclaw. Even if the Hufflepuff Seeker (and he probably should find out the unfortunate boy's name) managed to catch the Snitch now, Ravenclaw would win.

Motion from below caught his attention and he swerved sideways as the remaining Bludger rocketed vertically through the space that the tail of his Broomstick had been occupying.

"Okay, that _cannot_ be a coincidence." Harry muttered to himself as the Bludger arced round… only to be sent careening away by a strike from one of the Hufflepuff Beaters.

Harry gave the Beater a bemused look, then he turned his attention to the Bludger that was trying to head back towards him, only to be blocked by the other three Beaters.

"Not that I'm complaining," Harry called, motioning to the impromptu team-up, "But why?"

"Someone's sabotaged the Bludgers." The Beater replied as he drifted down to shield Harry even as all the non-Beaters descended to the ground. "Hooch has agreed to a time-out while she secures that one for examination and gets a new set…whoa!"

The Bludger burst into flames and slammed past the trio of Beaters. Harry dived as fast as he could to suck the Bludger after him and thus get the Hufflepuff out of harms way, not even bothering to pull up as he leapt off the broomstick. As the flaming hunk of iron hurtled towards him, Harry ripped off the left sleeve of his robe, wrapping it around his right hand before taking up a pose that he had seen in the Power Rangers television show that Dudley had enjoyed (mainly because of the explosions).

.

"No, he isn't!" Hermione gasped.

.

"What on earth?" Flitwick gasped as he joined Quirrell at the banister.

.

Harry drew back his right hand, then stepped forwards, spinning on his toes as he used his cloth-wrapped hand to catch and deflect the Bludger, sending it straight into the ground where, like the first one, it shattered into pieces, the flames fading away. The sound of the impact was almost deafening in the shocked silence from the stands and Harry looked up at the gaping faces.

"Erm… I've studied Karate?" He offered weakly.

.

Hermione flopped into her seat as her strength seemed to evaporate.

"Dammit, Harry." She breathed.

.

"He _definitely_ needs to go on the Dueling Circuit." Flitwick managed as Harry retrieved his broom and took to the air once again.

.

"That was certainly… _interesting_." Harry noted as they left the pitch.

"You have a gift for understatement." The Beater who had tried to protect Harry laughed. "I've seen many things, but a Keeper who not only blocked _every single_ shot but also two Bludgers?"

"Yeah." Harry sighed, then he looked up at the burly student. "Thanks for the save, even though we're on opposing teams."

"Hey, those Bludgers were faulty." The Beater shrugged. "I like to think that the Gryffs and you Ravens would do the same for us. Heck, I _know_ the Twins would. They only really play for the chance to bash things hard as they can."

"Sorry about making you lose by so much." Harry offered and the Beater shrugged.

"We've had worse. I admit, losing four-hundred to zero _is_ a bit embarrassing, but you deserved it. You did good out there. My uncle's on the Wimborne Wasps and he'll probably be asking you to join his team as soon as you graduate."

The Beater turned and entered the changing room that the Hufflepuff team were using and Harry facepalmed.

"Dammit. I never got his name!"

* * *

.

"S-sorry, but the br-br-breaking of the bl-bl-bludgers didn't m-m-matter. Whoever d-d-did this m-m-managed to sc-sc-scramble their sig-signature." Quirrell said, lowering his wand as he backed away from the collected metal shards.

"I was afraid of that." The newly-returned Albus sighed as he leaned over the metal. "So someone tried to injure Mr Potter… but who? And why?"

"Revenge for the Dark Lord?" Severus offered from where he was lurking in the corner. "I've already checked, Malfoy had nothing to do with this."

Flitwick nodded at Severus' declaration before speaking. "Well, whoever it is, they've made a big mistake. They've targeted one of _my_ Ravens, something that I will _not_ put up with."

The Charms Professor stalked out of the room, almost radiating an aura of bloodthirsty vengeance and Albus watched him leave.

"It's times like this that you remember that beneath that genial exterior is the heart and mind of a Goblin Warrior." Severus finally commented, the sarcasm that most would have expected to be there totally absent. "I am suddenly very relieved _not_ to be the target of his incipient vengeance."

"I shall alert the Quidditch League of today's events." Madam Hooch almost spat. "I'm sure that they'll allow for the inclusion of tracking spells to record the magical signature of _anyone_ who tried to interfere with them again and from now on, I'll not only run the checks myself _and_ with two others, I'll keep the balls with me for the entire day before the match."

"And we teachers will keep an eye out for anyone trying to cast a spell." Albus agreed. "Perhaps I can ask Septima to see if she can create some monitoring arrays that will alert us to anyone in the audience trying to use magic that could affect the game?"

"Let her make it an official project for NEWT credit and she'll get all the help she needs from her students." Severus suggested and Albus nodded.

"An excellent idea, Severus. Once again you prove that you do indeed represent the cunning of your House."

Snape lowered his head slightly to hide his smirk even as his hand stroked the pocket in which the third of Lily's journals resided.

.

"Harry!"

Harry staggered back a pace as the bushy-haired missile impacted on him.

"Hey, Hermione. Enjoy the game?" He joked, trying to ease the tension. His joke fell flat as Hermione increased the pressure of her hug to the point where even he was finding it slightly difficult to breathe. "Look, I'm alright."

"She was biting her nails for half the game." Neville joked as he slapped Harry on the shoulder. "When word gets out about what you did, you'll be getting offers from _all_ the teams as soon as you've taken your OWLs. Also, _four-hundred_ to _zero_? That has to be the most one-sided score ever!"

"Actually, that was the Slytherin/Gryffindor match in 1954." Hermione said, releasing Harry as her bookworm tendencies took over. "It was a Gryffindor victory with the score finishing at eight hundred and sixty to one hundred and fifty after the Slytherin Seeker caught the Snitch, being the only remaining Slytherin player on the pitch due to injuries and penalties. The worst Hufflepuff game was in 1975 when they lost five hundred and seventy to twenty against Slytherin."

"And once again we prove that there's _nothing_ Hermione doesn't know." Neville joked, earning a _huff_ and a dope-slap from the girl in question. "Worth it."


	17. A New Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hermione's Parents in this chapter are named after a married couple I knew.  
> I therefore dedicate this chapter to Ronald and Joan.  
> RIP. You are missed.

Harry looked up from the letter he had received and grinned.

"Hermione, Nev. What are you doing on Boxing Day or after?"

"Erm, not much." Hermione said slowly. "I have some cousins visiting over Christmas, but other than that…"

"Same here, sort of." Neville added. "Why?"

"The Pottery has been fully rebuilt and linked to the Floo." Harry smiled. "I've still got a few things to do to make it fully habitable, shop for furniture and so on, but after I've finished things off, you can come over for a bit. Hermione, it'll give you a chance to show your parents what magic you can do while Nev, I'm assuming you're linked to the Floo as well?"

Neville nodded. "We are. It's how I got to the station, there's a public Floo just off to one side."

"Hm, useful to know." Harry mused. "You'll have to show me how it's done… okay, possible change of plans. New Year's Eve, care to stay over? When it's time to catch the express, we can Floo to the station directly from the Pottery while your parents simply drive back home."

"Sounds like a plan." Hermione nodded. "I'll need to check with my parents first… it's rather short notice…"

Harry whistled and a moment later, Grace glided in and settled on his shoulder.

"Grace can carry the letter for you if you want." Harry offered. "She'll wait for a reply and bring it back to you, right girl?"

Grace _churr_ ed in apparent agreement, causing Hermione to giggle.

"Let me get a pen and some paper." She said as she scurried off.

"Nev?"

"Gran is intending to attend the Christmas Ball at the Ministry, which means I need to go as well since I'm the Heir, but I don't think she's got anything planned for New Year." He mused. "Of course, she'll probably insist on escorting me over, so you might want to make sure that everything's as neat and tidy as possible."

"Thanks for the warning, Nev." Harry chuckled. "It's good to have friends…"

"I know the feeling." Neville agreed.

"I'm back!" Hermione called as she re-entered the room, a pad of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. "…erm, what did I miss?"

.

.

Draco looked up from the letter he had received and winced.

"What is it?" Pansy Parkinson asked and Draco fought to smooth his expression.

"My father… will not be allowing me to attend the Malfoy Ball this year." Draco said, his mind flashing briefly back to the meeting with his father just after he had attempted to follow his father's instructions, but before he had finished writing the letter that would have explained why it hadn't been his fault it had failed.

}-{

" _How could you have been so_ stupid _?" Lucius whispered. Other men would have shouted, ranted or even screamed but Lucius held himself above such idiots.  
_ _He had painstakingly trained himself to control his temper, to make it work for him and now that he was on the receiving end, Draco was unhappily aware  
_ _of how much more terrifying near-civility was as compared to unrestrained rage._

" _Your task was simple." Lucius had continued, his voice so cold that had his cane not been lying on the table in front of him, Draco would have sworn that he  
_ _must have cast a freezing spell. "You were to use the Battlestick I sent you to_ covertly _disable that mudblood who is already making waves with how she is  
_ _showing up her superiors. Instead, you try to hit her in the middle of a lesson, under the gaze of_ Filius Flitwick _no less and even though you were on the row  
_ _directly behind her… you… missed."_

" _Someone knocked the desk!" Draco whined, then he cringed under his father's cold gaze._

" _I have plans, Draco." Lucius hissed at him. "Many plans. And if I cannot trust you to follow my instructions_ intelligently _… just remember that your mother is  
_ _still fertile. You will learn subtlety even if it kills you, and I am currently uncertain that I would care if it does."_

_Draco felt his face pale. Being seen as disposable was never a good thing among the Pureblood families that hewed close to the Great Dark and many of  
_ _those who were seen as such tended to vanish… usually at around the same time that the family in question gained extra powers in magery or reinforced  
_ _wards around their mansions._

" _You will not try to do anything other than study unless I tell you to." Lucius continued. "You will draw no attention to yourself, except in the fields of scholastic  
_ _achievement. You will remain quiet, refusing to rise to the taunts of those less worthy than yourself. And if I find that you have lied to me about_ anything _else…"_

_Lucius trailed off and Draco stood frozen with fear as his father collected his cane before sweeping from the room._

_He was still standing there ten minutes later when his Head of House collected him._

}-{

"Father is displeased about the failure to remove that overachieving mudblood from Hogwarts." Draco admitted, folding up the letter and placing it into one of his inner pockets. "He is working on building up the alliances that would have been his to pluck like ripe fruits had the plan worked."

Pansy frowned. "But… why did it fail?"

Draco snarled his answer. "Potter."

"You want we beat him up?" Vincent Crabbe offered and Draco shook his head.

"No. But Father has a rumor or two he wants placed over Christmas, as well as a story he intends to plant in the Prophet. You see, he has discovered something very interesting… Potter was raised by _muggles_ … "

Pansy screwed up her face in disgust.

"Muggles who have _vanished_." Draco continued with a smirk. "Potter is emancipated…"

Pansy frowned trying to see the connection and Draco hid a sigh of disappointment that he knew would be hypocritical. After all, _he_ hadn't made the connection that his father had either.

"How do we know Potter hasn't gone Dark and killed them?" He prompted and Pansy's face lit up in realization.

Vincent frowned as he tried to follow the logic, then he shrugged and turned back to his homework.

His father had made it very clear that he wasn't expected to think, only to guard Malfoy and send him regular reports on his actions.

Reports that would then be passed to Lucius Malfoy.

* * *

.

"Mum! Dad!"

Hermione sprinted forwards and hurled herself into the welcoming embrace of two adults. The man had close-cropped dark hair that still hinted at the natural curliness while her mother had long, straight brown hair that reached past her shoulders.

"Harry! Neville!" Hermione called, waving them over from where they were standing by the portal, Hermione having forcibly dragged them through behind her. "Mum, Dad, meet two of my best friends, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Sue and Padma are staying at Hogwarts, but you should be able to meet them when school ends. Harry, Neville, these are my parents, Ronald and Joan."

"We've heard quite a bit about you both." Ronald chuckled, offering his hand to the boys. "It's good to put faces to the names."

"We do need to get going." Joan said apologetically. "But I'm looking forwards to seeing a real magic house soon."

"Then I'll see you on New Years Eve." Harry smiled. "I hope it goes well."

"Bleaugh, Perdita's visiting." Hermione moaned. "It won't go well."

Ronald laughed as he towed his daughter away and Joan nodded to both boys before scurrying after them.

"So, Nev. The room?" Harry prompted and Neville jolted back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, we have to go back through."

Harry followed Neville back onto the platform, then through an inconspicuous door into a room with a dozen fireplaces. Neville walked to the nearest one and took a pinch of powder from the bowl affixed to the mantelpiece.

"You throw the powder in, state your location as clearly as you can and then step in when the flames turn green." He explained, then he threw the powder into the fire, causing it to flare up. "Longbottom Manor!"

The fire turned green and Neville strode into it, vanishing in a flash of light before the flames died down again, reverting to their normal appearance.

"Well, time to try this." Harry whispered to himself as he took a pinch of powder and threw it into the flames like Neville had done. "The Pottery!"

The flames turned green and Harry stepped into them. For an instant, they seemed to wrap around him, then he was whirling through nothingness, brief glimpses of views from fireplaces passing in front of him. His memory helped him take in dozens of different rooms, some of which had people in and one of which had a man and a woman… _celebrating_.

An instant later, a fireplace expanded before him and Harry found himself launched across the room, sliding to a stop against the far wall.

"Well, that was quite impressive." A familiar voice noted and Harry sat up, looking round to see Axefist returning his gaze from the depths of a deep, wing-backed armchair. "I've never seen _anyone_ come out of a Floo quite like that before."

"Yeah." Harry groaned as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. "I think I'll be taking the Knight Bus back to the station."

"There's a trick to using the Floo." Axefist noted as he extracted himself from the comfortable chair. "You keep walking. It apparently bleeds off momentum or something, although given how fast you came out I'd advise running."

"Thanks." Harry said as he finished checking that he hadn't come to harm. "Did the items I requested arrive?"

"They did and they are awaiting assembly in the null-room." Axefist supplied. "The pantry has been stocked up under stasis charms, the items from the Potter Vault placed in the respective rooms and the Quidditch Pitch has been tested and found acceptable."

Harry raised an eyebrow inquisitively, something that he had been practicing ever since Snape had used the very same expression on him one class. Axefist seemed to color slightly.

"The team believed in being very thorough?" He offered and Harry smiled.

"Then thank you."

"The anti-portkey ward will raise once I depart." Axefist stated, pulling out a small baton. "Any other requests before I go?"

"Yes." Harry said, looking around at the well-finished room. "Pay everyone involved a bonus of… an extra three percent. And five for yourself."

Axefist nodded. "Very good. Just so that you know, the secret door in the basement has been repaired. Here are the instructions on how to open it, the builders accepted Obliviations after finishing, so they don't know it's there. Once I get back, I'll be receiving a targeted Obliviation so I don't know it exists either. That letter will tell you where the secret switch is."

Harry looked down at the sealed envelope in his hand and when he looked up, Axefist was gone.

"Well…" He said after a long moment. "May as well check it out, then I have some digging to do."

* * *

.

Harry put down the large rocket ship and stepped back. A moment later, the ship seemed to shiver, then it rose slightly, a hologram appearing between it and Harry.

" _Hello, my son."_

"Hello." Harry said automatically. "Ah, are you a recording?"

" _I am an Artificial Intelligence, one programmed and enhanced by the original Jor-El with a copy of his personality."_ The holographic figure stated. _"My primary mission is to provide you with the resources and support that you will need. In the main cargo compartment is a nanite forge that once activated, will create a building for you to use as your headquarters. Jor-El selected the University of Applied Sciences as the blueprint for the building."_

"Ah." Harry thought fast. "Erm, you may want to change that. You see, we're _underneath_ my current house… can you create this building underground?"

Jor-El froze for a long moment. _"Affirmative, although defensive capabilities will be significantly reduced. Query, sensors indicate the presence of multiple technomagical-equivalent protective shields of uncertain function."_

Harry stared at the hologram. "Ooooookay. I think we need to have a _long_ talk."


	18. Revelations

Harry sat back on the chair that he had brought down as the AI projected the image of a large, white crystal-based building set mostly below ground level.

" _Upon activation, the Nanite Forge will replace the current building with…"_

"Okay, not happening." Harry said firmly. "Whatever building Space-Dad decided I should get, it goes _under_ my house. I just had it rebuilt, I am _not_ losing my family home!"

" _Acknowledged, Kal-El. Accessing data-banks for secondary designs. Query, do you wish to include the current building in the transformation?"_

Harry frowned. "And what are the advantages of that?"

" _Replacing standard building materials with Kryptonian crystals would strengthen the structure by over four thousand percent. In addition, holographic displays, force fields and inertial manipulation arrays would all be usable in the replaced portion."_

"And if I asked that the building _appeared_ totally unchanged? Including touch, sound, sight and so on?"

" _The process would take three weeks."_ the AI responded.

"And the wards?"

" _Prior to construction, the wards will be analyzed. Construction and replacement will commence once the wards can be duplicated and enhanced."_

"Excellent." Harry smiled. "Now, I'm having guests over soon, then I need to return to Hogwarts to continue learning magic. Once I depart along with my guests, you can begin… assuming you have a plan I approve of."

A new hologram appeared and Harry raised an eyebrow as he pointed to one area.

"Why exactly are you planning on linking to the Quidditch pitch?"

" _Size, location and depth of area designated Quidditch Pitch exceed both minimum and recommended parameters for planned hangar launch tunnel."_

Harry watched the image move and he grinned.

"Okay, opening up like that? Nice. I approve."

" _Thank you, Kal-El."_

"But why do we even _need_ a hangar?"

" _For the storage and deployment of shuttles, recon drones and other vehicles as and when required."_

"Walked _right_ into that one." Harry groaned. " _What_ vehicles?"

* * *

.

Hermione stared in horrified shock at the headline of the Daily Prophet.

**The-Boy-Who-Lived Is The-Boy-Who-Killed!**

"What?" She finally managed to choke out as her eyes traveled down the article.

_Written by Rita Skeeter_

_We are all aware of the history of the so-called Chosen One. The only survivor of the Killing  
_ _Curse, the vanquisher of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the hero of our world recently returned  
_ _to us as one of the newest (and most famous) Ravenclaws._

_But where has he been for the last decade… and what has he been doing?_

_For the last ten years, ever since that fateful Halloween, Harry Potter has been missing from the  
_ _Wizarding World. The letters and gifts that a grateful populace sent to him have been ignored,  
_ _all attempts to find him to thank him have ended in failure, all we had to assure us that he had  
_ _not died were the Harry Potter Adventure books, beloved by our children (and many adults too)._

_But while the Chosen One has indeed lived, facts have emerged that paint a frighting picture._

_It would seem that Potter was sent to his Muggle Relatives to be raised ignorant of magery. An  
_ _investigation has confirmed that he ended up with his Aunt, Petunia Dursley (nee Evans), a  
_ _muggle who according to the few wizards who met her (at the wedding of James Potter and  
_ _Lily Evans) is noted to dislike magic in all its forms, as did her husband._

_Further research has uncovered the existence of one son, a Dudley Dursley, the cousin of our  
_ _so-called hero, and the house where this inoffensive (albeit non-magical) family once lived._

_Yes, dear readers, where they_ once _lived._

_The Dursleys vanished at around the same time that Mr Potter managed to trick the Goblins  
_ _of Gringotts Bank into aiding him in becoming the youngest Emancipated Wizard in history._

_One can only wonder at the size of the bribe that he had to give to attain such a status, but it  
_ _doesn't end there. The Dursley's House went on the Muggle Housing Market within days of his  
_ _emancipation with no sign of the former occupants. Even the window curtains were removed!_

_We at the Prophet are still investigating, but we must note that emancipation brings with it the  
_ _right to use magic, un-monitored, outside Hogwarts. Said spells can include things like Curses  
_ _and vanishing spells, making it horribly possible that our Hero snapped at living with Muggles  
_ _for so long and proceeded to kill them, Vanishing their corpses so that his crimes would not be  
_ _discovered!_

_We at the Prophet have already sent a copy of our findings to the Ministry of Magic and the  
_ _highly respected pillar of the community Lucius Malfoy had this to say._

"If what we believe to have happened did indeed occur, then it is a great tragedy as well as a  
wake-up call to the Wizarding World. I have always believed that Magicals should be raised in  
the Magical World to avoid high-stress situations like this and the consequences that happen in  
all too many cases. I can only hope that the Dursley family, innocent victims of a culture clash  
that should never have been allowed to occur, may find peace beyond the veil of death. _"_

_Rest assured, Readers, the Daily Prophet will keep investigating despite the fact that Mr Potter  
_ _has not provided any comment on this story.._

Hermione slowly lowered the paper to her desk before she could rip it apart.

"Why that… that _no-good, lying, backstabbing, bitch_!" She fumed.

.

Lucius Malfoy put down his copy of the _Daily Prophet_ with a smirk of satisfaction.

In retrospect, his previous plan to force a separation of the Magical and Muggle worlds (and thus prevent Pureblood Culture from being infected by the delusional beliefs of the Mudblood barbarians) had been ill-thought-out and unlikely to succeed but now, with the Daily Prophet leading a charge in a direction that he had pointed, at the very least the reputation of the _Boy-Who-Lived_ would be permanently sullied, reducing his future political potential so much that his very presence would act as a means of undermining the very policies that he would support in the future.

If he even _had_ a future, that was.

Lucius reached out of the well-aged bottle of Firewhiskey and poured himself a generous helping, but not too much.

He would need all his wits about him if he was to persuade Fudge to sign an arrest warrant for the _Boy-Who-Lived_ , then he would need to be very careful about how he would work around Madam Amelia Bones. Given the chance, she would undoubtedly try to interview Potter with Veritaserum rather than simply throwing him into Azkaban…

Maybe he should try to get Potter into the cell next to the man who had been accused of betraying his family despite him (as far as he knew) not being a Death Eater? That would be deliciously ironic.

Lifting the glass, he raised in in a toast to those who had followed his instructions to the letter (unlike his idiotic son) and downed the drink, putting the glass back on the desk before the magical drink could take effect. Once the flames had dissipated, Lucius rose from his seat.

It was time to go and meet the Minister, _officially_ to give him the gold-encrusted invite to the Malfoy Ball.

Soon, he would be able to set Wizarding society back onto the path of Pureblood Supremacy and all would be as it should be.

.

"Harry! Harry!"

Harry walked into the Receiving Room and stared at the head in the fireplace.

"Neville? It's another week until I expected…"

"Let me through!" Neville commanded and Harry walked to the fireplace, pushing the small ornamental shield above the mantelpiece until it retracted flush against the bricks.

"Access is open." Harry said and Neville's head vanished. An instant later, the Floo flared green and Neville strode into the room, closely followed by a regal-looking elderly lady with a pronounced family resemblance and, of all things, a live vulture perched on her hat.

"Dowager Augusta Longbottom, I presume?" Harry asked and the woman nodded, her face set.

"You are in trouble." She pronounced as she pulled out a newspaper and thrust it at Harry. "Read."

Harry skimmed the article, then he growled.

"Do you people not have _any_ rules about libel and slander?"

"How much is true?" Madam Longbottom demanded. "I am trying to decide whether or not to sever the alliance between our houses."

"We have an alliance?" Harry asked despite himself. "No, that can wait. The answer is… it _is_ true… and it isn't."

"Explain."

"I was unaware of Magic or the Wizarding World until just before my eleventh birthday." Harry explained. "A Mail Ward prevented me from receiving anything, not even statements from Gringotts. I have reason to believe that whatever was sent to me has been turned into ash as a result."

Madam Longbottom gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.

"My relatives and I disliked each other, but due to a Blood Ward, I had to stay with them. The Ward shattered when I was emancipated, I believe that they decided to move the same day since the house would remind them too much of when I lived with them." Harry paused for a moment. "Plus, the Ward would no longer protect them from any magic-users who wanted to hurt them, so moving would be a way of staying safe. I personally didn't really care since I had no plans to ever meet them again."

"Understandable." Madam Longbottom agreed. "Any ideas?"

"Not at the moment." Harry mused. "One of my mother's journals mentioned something called _Veritaserum_ … maybe a public questioning under it with the questions pre-scripted would work. Has that ever happened before?"

"No…" Neville's grandmother said, looking somewhat shocked. "I've never heard of something like that _ever_ happening…"

"Feint east and strike west." Harry quoted, earning a quizzical look. "It means pretend to be preparing for one action, then do something that the enemy don't expect. Who will I need to see to make this happen?"

"That would be Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Madam Longbottom replied. "If past experience is any indication, Aurors will be here soon. Perhaps we should head for the DMLE offices now to avoid them… not all Aurors are trustworthy, after all and if Malfoy has managed to reach the ear of the Minister..."

Neville nodded in agreement.

"Then get changed." Augusta snapped. "I think… smart but not formal."

Harry blinked. "Erm, what? I have no _clue_ about Wizarding fashions. Would a normal suit work?"

The look of horrified shock on Madam Longbottom's face made Neville turn away before he could break out laughing.

.

"Hello! Hello!" Fudge said with a welcoming grin, walking round his desk to shake Lucius' hand.

"Thank you for allowing me to see you, Minister Fudge." Lucius smiled, making sure to emphasize Fudge's position in order to stroke his ego in preparation. "I assume you have read the paper?"

"Oh, yes!" Fudge nodded as he returned to his thronelike chair behind the desk. Despite the fact that the chair was on a slight dias (hidden by the desk) in order to raise him up so that supplicants theoretically looked up at him, thus putting them in the right frame of mind, Fudge somehow managed to look as if he was about to be swallowed up by the gilded seat.

"Absolutely terrible news." Fudge continued to blather as he settled onto the cushion that lifted him up enough that he almost looked like he wasn't a child playing in his father's study. "Who would have thought that the _Boy-Who-Lived_ would have fallen so far and so quickly? How could such a thing have happened?"

"Well, he _is_ the only person to have survived the Killing Curse." Lucius interjected smoothly. "We simply have no information about how such an event would affect a small boy. Why, being hit with such a _dark_ spell may have twisted him so that he would grow up to become a Dark Lord himself."

"That is terrible!" Fudge gasped.

"Indeed. Why, if he isn't restrained, he could very easily become a bigger threat than _You-Know-Who_." Lucius prompted and for a long moment, he thought that it had been too subtle for the former Obliviator. However, Fudge suddenly perked up.

"Of course! All we need to do is remove him from the public and he'll no longer be a threat to us!"

"But where could a Dark Lord such as he be secured, I wonder." Lucius said thoughtfully. "Minister, I'm afraid I have many invitations still to deliver, so I cannot tarry. However, my wife is looking forwards to seeing you at the Ball… please accept this invitation."

"Thank you." Fudge said, accepting the envelope which was bigger than it needed to be to hold the elegantly-written invitation inside. "I assure you, things will be sorted well before your Ball."

"You are too kind, Minister." Lucius smarmed. "If you will excuse me?"

"Oh, of course. And pass my regards to Narcissa if you would be so kind."

"I will." Lucius smiled as he exited the office. Behind him, he heard the envelope being opened and the first few coins hitting the desk before he finished closing the door.

"Arrogant moron." He grumbled to himself. "But at least I can count on him to do what he's told to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone thinking I'm trying to bash Fudge, I'm actually trying to portray him in the same fashion as he was in Canon. You know, throwing Hagrid into Azkaban just to be seen to be doing something, letting Umbridge launch a campaign to denounce Harry while denying Voldie could have returned… no bashing intended.  
> Unless JK was bashing him in her stories…


	19. Statements

"I hope this works." Harry muttered nervously as he looked at the stage being set up in front of the vacant building that had been appropriated by the DMLE for the occasion.

"It will." Stated the stern-looking woman who had been introduced to him as Amelia Bones and who was apparently the aunt of one of his yearmates (although the girl in question was in Hufflepuff, so he hadn't really encountered her yet). "I've chosen the most trustworthy Aurors for guard duty and the wards around the platform will magnify the voices of everyone on there while blocking out the sound from the watchers."

"Nev, you got the list?"

Neville nodded soberly, his knuckles white as he gripped the rolled-up parchment holding the questions that Harry, Madam Longbottom and DMLE Head Bones had quickly worked out.

"Just a quick scan first to check for possible allergies." The Healer (who had been shanghaied from St Mungo's) said, waving his wand, then he frowned. "Odd."

"What?" Harry, Neville and Madam Bones chorused.

"It's a _very_ clear reading. No allergy to Veritaserum, but I haven't had a reading that clear before… can I check something?"

Harry nodded and the Healer waved his wand in a different pattern, then a third and a fourth.

"That's _really_ strange." He finally said. "You don't have a normal mage's resistance to magic. Even a weak spell would affect you since it wouldn't need to overpower your natural defenses."

"So… learn to dodge?" Harry asked and the Healer nodded.

"Very much so, Mr Potter. In fact, I'd advise learning shield spells as a matter of urgency, as well as getting permission to wear runic-enhanced robes like the Aurors do. With no _natural_ protection…" The Healer trailed off with a helpless shrug.

"And potions?" Madam Bones asked after a moment.

"They'll be… I'd guess about twice as effective. Either way."

" _Two_ drops of Veritaserum then." Bones decided.

"Chief, the stage is set and the Wizarding Wireless Network have set up their equipment."

Bones nodded to the Auror, then looked at Harry.

"Last chance to back out."

"No." Harry said firmly. "Let's _do_ this."

.

"Lucius, so glad that you could make it!" Fudge greeted the taller man warmly while at his side, a pink-clad woman made notes on a clipboard. Around them, several Aurors murmured greetings as well.

"I see you have assembled a most impressive team." Lucius said approvingly as he looked around him.

"Of course." Fudge preened. "Only the best for taking a criminal into custody. I have the Portkey prepared to whisk him off to Azkaban where he'll be put into a secure cell."

"Excellent." Lucius purred and Fudge motioned for the group to begin. One of the men stepped forwards, almost to the slight distortion of the protective wards, and began waving his wand. A moment later, he returned to the group, looking rather disturbed.

"What?" Fudge demanded.

"Them's _strong_ wards, sir." The man stated. "It's going to take time to get through them. We may need to pull in some Cursebreakers as well."

"Hey!" one of the other men called. "You got to listen to this! Potter's at Diagon!"

"What?" Fudge and Malfoy chorused as they pushed their way to where the man was putting his portable radio down on a table that had been hastily transfigured from a nearby tree stump.

"… _and now Madam Amelia Bones, Head Auror of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is about to speak!"_

The excited announcer's voice rose from the radio and Lucius ground his teeth together in suppressed rage as one of the few _honest_ people whom he couldn't bribe started speaking.

" _We are here at the request of Mr Potter in response to the accusations flung at him in the Daily Prophet, accusations  
_ _that neither he nor the DMLE were informed of prior to publication and which he has not been given a chance to refute.  
_ _Therefore, here in Diagon alley and live on the WWN, you will now hear Mr Potter's own testimony_ under Veritaserum _,  
_ _meaning that it will be the truth and only the truth. Mr Potter, are you ready?"_

" _I am, Madam Bones."_

" _Healer Weatherwax, please confirm the potion you are holding."_

" _I swear on my honor as a Healer that this is Veritaserum, from a batch that I watched being brewed."_

" _Then please give Mr Potter the required dosage."_

Fudge spluttered with shock. "But… but… He _can't_ do this!"

"Obviously, he can." Lucius stated, caught between hatred for how Potter had thrown his plans off track and admiration for the same. "Obviously he can."

"We have to get to Diagon alley and stop him!" Fudge blustered, then he paused as Lucius placed a warning hand on his shoulder.

"No, Cornelius, any attempt to take action _now_ would destroy you politically. We have to wait, to hear what he says and should he disprove the story, you can simply write this off as a training exercise and no-one will be any the wiser…"

.

Hermione Granger, trailed by her parents, managed to force her way through the crowds to where the warded dias had been set up. She had persuaded her parents to bring her to Diagon so that she could use the Post Office to send Harry a warning Owl, but seeing him on the stage had proven to her that her best friend (and the person she owed her life to) had beaten her to the punch.

"…and he's under." The Healer said, standing back. Amelia Bones nodded as she accepted a list from Neville Longbottom, who was standing beside a stern-looking elderly lady who had enough of a familial resemblance to him that she could only be his grandmother.

"These questions have been agreed ahead of time and are the only ones that shall be asked." Amelia declared. "Question one. Are you Harry James Potter?"

"I am…" Harry droned listlessly.

"Are you an emancipated wizard?"

"I am…"

"Where do you reside?"

"The Pottery."

"For those that do not know, the Pottery is the historical home of the Potter Family and has recently been rebuilt." Amelia supplied before turning back to face Harry. "Did you previously live with the Dursley family, that being Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley and Dudley Dursley?"

"I did…"

"How would you describe your interactions with them?"

"Minimal…"

A sussuration flowed through the crowd, but silence fell once more as Amelia asked the next question.

"Did you wish to kill them?"

"No…"

"Did you kill them or place either a request or order for them to be killed?"

"No…"

To the best of your knowledge, are they still alive?"

"Yes…"

"Do you know where they are now?"

"No…"

"Do you _want_ to know where they are now?"

"No…"

This time the murmurs in the crowd were louder and lasted longer, but Madam Bones waited for them to quieten before continuing.

"Before you received your Hogwarts letter, were you aware of the Wizarding World?"

"No…"

"Before you received your Hogwarts letter, had you received any communication from the Wizarding World?"

"No…"

"Before you received your Hogwarts letter, were you aware that you were seen as a hero in the Wizarding World?"

"No…"

"Who introduced you to the Wizarding World?"

"Uncle Fil…"

Amelia blinked. "Who?"

"Filius Flitwick…"

"And… _why_ do you call him Uncle Fil?"

"He told me I could as my mother asked him if wanted to become one of my honorary uncles…"

Amelia paused, then looked back down to her list.

"I seem to have got distracted. Back to the questions. To the best of your knowledge, what happened to the letters and gifts that people tried to send you?"

"They were redirected by a Mail Ward… probably destroyed as the ward affected Secure Gringotts Statements… I never saw them…"

"The Statements would have combusted and burned everything around them." Amelia confirmed. "And why did you ask for this public interrogation?"

"So people would know the truth and not believe the lies the Daily Prophet prints…"

"I think that covers everything important." Madam Bones said with a brisk nod. "Healer Weatherwax, the antidote, please."

"Harry…" She whispered as the Healer moved forwards with a small vial of the antidote in hand.

.

"This is a _disaster_!" Fudge whined, wringing his hands.

" _Almost_ a disaster." Lucius corrected him, hiding his own rage with consummate skill. "Remember what you decided to do? Declare this a training exercise that needs to be kept quiet?"

Fudge paused for a moment, then he brightened. "Oh, right! Yes, a wonderful little exercise. All finished, no need for any reports as I watched it all myself. Everyone'll be paid, isn't that right, Dolores?"

"Of course, Minister." Simpered the pink-clad Witch. "I'll see to all the details for you."

"Thank you, Dolores." Fudge said, brushing his hands as if wiping away responsibility for the near-catastrophe. "Well done everyone, you performed wonderfully and Dolores will see to your payment. No need for reports as I saw what I needed to see. Well done all of you! Lucius?"

"Of course, Minister." Lucius smiled genially. "May I escort you back to the Ministry?"

.

"Harry!"

Harry half-turned from his conversation with Madam Bones and smiled as he spotted the waving figure.

"Hey, Hermione!" He waved back. "Um, Nev?"

"Sure thing, Harry." Neville chuckled as he walked over to tell the Aurors blocking the eager witch's path that she was a close friend and should therefore be allowed to join them.

"Sorry about that." Harry apologized as he turned back to the DMLE Head.

"Not at all." Amelia responded with a gentle smile. "I assume she's a friend of yours?"

"The first friend I made in the Wizarding World and one who wanted to be _my_ friend, not the friend of the _Boy-Who-Lived_."

"I understand." Amelia nodded, then she glanced at where Hermione was hovering anxiously nearby. "However, I still have other tasks to see to, so I hope the rest of the day goes well for you."

As Amelia turned away, she heard Hermione start to scold Harry for not warning her about his recent decision. Chuckling, she made her way off the stage and headed back to her office.

.

Draco switched off the radio and slumped back into his seat, hate and satisfaction warring for supremacy within him.

Potter had managed to pull off the impossible and in one move, had undone all of his father's hard work. Oh, the miasma of the murder allegations (now revealed to be without any foundation at all) would remain for _years_ at the edge of people's awareness's whenever they thought about the so-called _Boy-Who-Lived_ , but it would only be a slight hint, not the stepping-stone to undo all the changes that the muggleborn had achieved despite the efforts of their betters and superiors to preserve that which made the Wizarding World so much better than the collection of muddy hovels that all Purebloods _knew_ that mudbloods hailed from, whatever they may claim.

After all, the Chronicles of Slazar Slytherin _proved_ that Muggles were unlettered, unwashed and ignorant. While they may have learned to put up _proper_ buildings (probably under the direction of Squibs and those wizards who, for some reason far beyond his understanding, chose to leave civilization and slum with those _things_ ), at best they were trainable beasts barely worth noticing.

Draco frowned as he thought through the recent events. Normally, he simply relied on his breeding to carry the day (and why not? He was a _Malfoy_ after all…) but even he could see that his father's plan had just collapsed quite spectacularly.

The question that tugged at his mind was whether it was simply luck or actual intelligence which had allowed Potter to put his father's work to naught.

While he wanted to believe the former, Potter _was_ in Ravenclaw, the House of Wit and Knowledge.

And if it _had_ been intelligence, would that mean that it _really_ had been Potter who had knocked the desk and thrown off his aim rather than him just being a convenient scapegoat?

Draco steepled his fingers like he had seen his father do.

He had much to think about.

His father's reputation would not be enough any more.

He needed… something else.

Something more…


	20. Christmas

Harry walked into the dining room where he had placed two of the boxes that he had purchased from The Hog's Head (the rest remaining in the kitchen). Although he was still too young for alcoholic drinks (despite being emancipated), Aberforth Dumbledore had let him purchase several meals in cardboard boxes that were charmed to hold their contents in stasis for up to four days, keeping them piping hot or freezing cold (for the ice-cream) ready for when they were opened, thus breaking the enchantment.

Opening the box marked "Christmas Breakfast", Harry licked his lips as the smell of the cooked breakfast (with black pudding, beans, bacon, sausages, two different sorts of egg, toast and several small pots of condiments) filled the room. Quickly removing the various dishes, he dashed to the kitchen and rummaged around in the cutlery drawer before returning with a knife and fork.

"Merry Christmas to me." He smiled as he speared the first sausage, then he froze as a ball of flame formed above the table, one that resolved into a red-and-gold bird holding a package.

"What the…?"

The bird chirped at him as it circled around him, then it dropped the package on the table before vanishing in another ball of fire.

Harry stared at the now-empty space for a long moment, then he shook his head.

"What? Was? That?"

No answer came to his question and he looked at the parcel sitting almost innocently at the other end of the table. For a moment, he considered opening it straight away, but the scent of his breakfast changed his mind.

He would open it with the other presents he had received.

The first presents he had received as far as he could remember.

Truly, it was indeed a _magical_ Christmas.

* * *

.

"Happy Christmas!" Joan and Ronald chorused as Hermione entered the living room.

"Christmas hug!" Hermione declared as she wrapped her arms around her parents and for a long moment, the three of them simply enjoyed each other's presence, then Hermione looked round and frowned.

"The pile's bigger."

"Owls dropped off two parcels last night." Ronald explained with a smile. "You'd already gone to bed, so we peeked at the labels."

"Harry and Neville?" Hermione asked and her parents nodded.

Hermione looked at the two parcels, one wrapped in blue-and-silver paper while the other had christmas trees on it that were flexing and moving in an unseen breeze.

"You know," Ronald said teasingly, "If we didn't know you so well, we'd be suspicious. I mean, presents from _two_ different boys?"

"Da-aaad!"

For a moment, Hermione simply glared at her parents, then her eyes widened.

"Mum, Dad, I think I'd better open their presents _before_ the others get here…"

At her parents quizzical looks, Hermione explained. "If the gifts are magical, how could we explain it? Or the paper, for that matter? Especially with the need to keep magic secret…"

"She has a point." Joan admitted, then she grinned. "And I _really_ want to see what a _magical_ Christmas present is like."

Hermione smiled as picked up the first present, flipping over the tag to see who had sent the one in the Ravenclaw colors.

* * *

.

"Neville."

"Grandmother."

"A pair of packages have arrived for you." Augusta Longbottom stated before taking a sip of her morning tea. "They're over there, I've already checked them for hexes."

"Thank you, Grandmother." Neville sighed as he looked at the labels. As he expected, one was from Harry and the second from Hermione, both with tags indicating where they had been sent from. Hermione's bore the mark of the Diagon Alley Owl Office while Harry's was marked with the Hogsmeade Branch's symbol.

Glancing at his Grandmother, who was busying herself reading a letter from one of her many political allies (several of whom she disliked immensely and only put up with because their aims and hers weren't opposed to each other), he reached out and picked up the first package.

* * *

.

"That was _delicious_." Harry sighed as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his now-filled stomach. "Well, I guess I'd better start dealing with the gifts."

Getting up, he picked up the odd present before walking into the room used for mail. Drifts of letters covered the floor while each corner held a pile of presents and he sighed as he looked at them

"From no presents at all to far too many." He groaned as he picked up several letters and looked at the writing on them.

"Urgh. _fans_. All I wanted was a nice, quiet, comfortable life… ah well. Where did I put the notebook and pen? I'm going to need more paper for the thank-you letters…"

* * *

.

"Wow." Neville breathed as he leafed through the encyclopedia of plants that Harry had sent him. "Amazing."

"What is?" Augusta asked, rising from her seat and walking over. Neville angled the book so that she could see it and her eyebrows rose at the sight of the color illustrations set into the columns of text. "When you go back to Hogwarts, that book will have to remain here. It's far too valuable to be risked at school."

"Really?" Neville chuckled. "I've seen books similar to this in Harry's library and they're not nearly as valuable as you think."

Augusta's eyebrows shot up as Neville flicked through the pages. "But it must have cost at least fifty Galleons. Why, color illustrations like those must have taken _days_ to draw…"

"Muggles print books in batches of several thousand at a time, _including_ pictures. They even publish books that are almost nothing _but_ pictures." Neville explained. "Hermione and I had a discussion about it, apparently Muggle printing companies have high-speed presses almost as large as the Daily Prophet _building_!"

Madam Longbottom performed a rather credible impression of a goldfish as she tried to fit her Grandson's claims into her worldview.

* * *

.

"This is the _Herbs of the Ancient Potioneers_!" Hermione squealed as she hugged the book that she had received from Neville to her chest. "I've read about it, but I didn't think I'd _own_ one!"

Finally calming down, she turned and opened up the shrinkable three-compartment-chest that Harry had sent her. Turning the key from the Wardrobe setting, through the Cupboard option and to the Bookcase setting, she stepped back as the bookcases rose and unfolded.

"You know," Ronald said mock-thoughtfully, "You might want to move all your books onto those shelves. It'll free up more space in your room."

Hermione closed the Bookcase, then opened it to reveal a second set of shelving in a slightly darker wood.

"Yes…" She said slowly, her eyes taking in the empty shelves. "Yes, I think I will… after Perdita's gone."

At her parent's quizzical looks, she sighed and explained.

"What do you think she'd say if they saw my room devoid of books?"

"Good point." Joan allowed.

* * *

.

Harry scribbled another name on the list he was making, then turned to the final mystery package with a sigh of relief. Picking it up, he found a label attached.

_Your father left this in my possession before he died.  
_ _It is time it was returned to you.  
_ _Use it well.  
_ _A Very Merry Christmas to you._

"Huh,wonder what it is." Harry mused as he opened the package, causing something silvery-grey to land in his lap. Opening it up, he looked at it.

"A cloak? I wonder what's so special about it?"

There was no answer, so Harry folded it up and placed it on the table to examine later.

For now he had thank-you letters to write…

* * *

.

Draco Malfoy looked at the presents spread out on his bed. True, the Acromantula Silk robes would help him show others his true place near the apex of the social hierarchy, but some of the other gifts from his parents… worried him.

His father had sent him a book on the political maneuverings of Salazar Slytherin prior to the establishment of Hogwarts, maneuverings that laid the foundation for the school even before the first stone was laid, although Draco had already read his family's copy of the _Chronicles of Salazar Slytherin_ , so there wouldn't be that much for him to learn from this new book, no matter who this author T.M. Riddle was. After all, Riddle was not a Pureblood name, so the Author was obviously inferior to him. A second book was beside it and Draco would have sneered at it had he not been instructed via letter to read it thoroughly from cover to cover.

Although what a muggle called Sun Tzu (even for Muggles, that was quite a bizarre name) could hope to teach him he couldn't imagine.

Draco mentally shrugged and picked up the book. His father had relented somewhat (probably due to his mother's pleas) and he would be returning to Malfoy Mansion for the New Year celebrations. It was quite likely that his father would decide to quiz him on the second book and should he _fail_ to show that he had at last read it…

Draco shuddered as he contemplated the likely outcomes, then he opened the book and began to read.

* * *

.

The scent of burned paper still hung in the air as Harry finished sealing the final letter. Beside him, the metal waste-bin held a large amount of ash and parchment fragments, the remains of over a score of letters that had fallen victim to the sheer speed of his writing and ignited from the friction of his fountain pens (of which seven had also overheated and been thrown away due to their deformed nibs).

"Okay." He sighed as he added the letter to his pile, then shoveled them all carefully into a large bag. "If I remember rightly, the Post Office will still be open, as will Gringotts, so make a withdrawal, then post a _lot_ of letters."

His gaze paused at the sight of a small stack of papers that he had piled up in the corner.

"…and apologetic refusals for the engagement offers." He added with a scowl. "Why would they even think I'd _want_ to get married yet? I'm only _eleven_ , darn it!"

Hoisting the bag over his shoulder, Harry walked out of his study and towards the Reception Room and the Floo within it.

He had a large number of letters to post.

A flutter of wings caught his attention and he smiled as Grace landed on one of the many perches he had placed around the mansion. Putting the bag down, he pulled out a pair of letters.

"Excellent timing, Grace." He smiled and the owl seemed to perk up. "I have a pair of special letters I was worrying about since I can't trust the Post Office owls with them. Can I impose on you to take them for me?"

Grace straightened up and barked imperiously before sticking out one leg.

"I knew I could count on you." Harry said, carefully attaching the letters to Grace's leg. "The first is to Neville, the second to Hermione, but you may need to wait to see if she wants to send a letter back with you."

Grace nodded, then launched in a flurry of snowy wings.

"Okay, now for the rest." Harry sighed as he picked up the bag once more.

* * *

.

"Narcissa, my beloved…" Lucius Malfoy looked up from the letter he was reading. "Why do you have a _thank-you_ letter from the _Boy-who-lived_?"

"Political expediency, my dear." Narcissa replied as she concentrated on writing a letter in her finest calligraphy. "I sent him a gift voucher and a note stating that I was in no way involved in any scheme against him."

Lucius raised an eyebrow at his wife. "And _how_ is that politically expedient?"

"Because it means that I can pass messages from you to him and vice-versa if required, my love." Narcissa said. "It always helps to have ways of communicating even with your enemies."

"Very true, my beloved." Lucius agreed, returning the letter to where it had been lying on her desk. "Once again you prove how fortunate I was that you agreed to become my wife."

* * *

.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The Weasley males jammed their fingers in their ears as the youngest Weasley ran around the house, holding a letter to her chest as Molly Weasley smiled.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"It's only a thank-you letter! Why is she making such a fuss?" Ron half-shouted as his sister raced past him.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"We're not sure"/"but we think"/"our over-excited sister"/"will be aiming"/"for Ravenclaw"/"when she goes"/"to Hogwarts"/"next year." The twins laughed as Ginny made her dozenth lap around the room, then Molly snagged her.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE-huh?"

"Come on, Ginny." She grinned. "Let's allow the others to talk."

As the two females exited the room, Arthur Weasley used his wand to end the silencing charm he had deployed to protect his hearing.


	21. New Year

"Madam Longbottom, welcome to The Pottery." Harry said with a bow.

"Lord Potter, it is an honor to be here." Augusta Longbottom replied equally formally as her grandson emerged from the Floo behind her.

"Hi, Nev." Harry grinned and Madam Longbottom winced slightly as Neville replied.

"Hey, Harry. Nice place. Big windows."

"Thanks." Harry laughed. "So, for the rest of today and tonight I'll be your host. Hermione and her parents phoned to say that they've just set out so they'll be a couple of… what?"

"Phoned?" Augusta repeated the unfamiliar word carefully. "What does that mean?"

Harry paused for a moment as he thought about how to put it in terms she would understand.

"Ummm, think of it as a two-way audio scrying spell and you're most of the way there. It… uses a mechanism called a _telephone_ , or you can shorten it to just _phone_ , to direct the spell via a ritual which consists of pressing between six and eleven numbers in a specific order depending on who you wish to talk to."

"Sounds complicated." Augusta sniffed. "But you said it's a muggle thing, so how does it work in a magical environment?"

"It's in a special room I had installed," Harry explained. "Along with a lot of other muggle things and… you know, I think that since Hermione's going to take a couple of hours to arrive, I really should show you something. If you want to hang up your coats first?"

Harry waited for the Longbottoms to hang their jackets on the wall-hooks, then he led them through the main area of the house to a small room. Pulling out his wand, he placed it in one of the twenty small display cases on the wall, tapping the glass door as it closed to make it flash blue.

"The boxes will only open to your magical signatures." He stated as Neville followed his example and Augusta gave him a suspicious look. "The room beyond is designed to drain the ambient magic inside it and expel it into the rest of the mansion. You probably don't want to risk your wand in there."

Augusta finally pulled out her wand and placed it in one of the glass cases, closing and opening it several times to check it wasn't a trick.

"If you'll come through, I'll show you something from the Muggle world you may find interesting." Harry said as he opened the second door. "It's a tale about King Arthur and his court magician Merlin…"

"Sounds… acceptable." Madam Longbottom allowed as she swept through the door.

.

Augusta Longbottom was still in shock as Harry finished rewinding the tape and returned it to the box.

"That was _incredible_!" Neville laughed as he leaned back in his seat. "And each box that you have is a different Muggle story? That's… that's more tales than we Wizards have!"

"…Muggles thought that we packed like _that_?" Augusta finally managed. "And… and…"

"It's a tale _based_ on the Legend of King Arthur." Harry explained as he returned the video to the shelf. "You'd be amazed how much the Muggles know about magic, even if they think it doesn't really exist."

Augusta shook her head. "And all of that was contained in that little box?"

"Yep, but opening it up shatters the spell." Harry said, stretching the truth a bit in the interests of _not_ having his burgeoning film collection destroyed by accident. "There are quite a few stories, some set on other worlds or in different times, some animated like the one you just watched while others are more like the moving pictures in the Prophet, but with sound and proper colors…"

"I shall have to see about having one of these rooms installed in Longbottom Manor… and learn how to use this… _equipment_." Augusta mused as she rose from her chair to follow her grandson. "It has been a long time since I saw something truly new… I… quite enjoyed it."

* * *

.

"And left here." Hermione said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Ronald asked as he hit the indicator. "It doesn't really look like much of a road. More of an overgrown farm track… if that."

Hermione leaned forwards and placed her hands on her parents shoulders.

"Ah, it looks better now… just like how that pub appears in London when you hold our hands!" Ronald exclaimed. "So, here we go."

The car bumped slightly over the first portion of the driveway, then the road smoothed into a lane of irregular slabs perfectly fitted together leading up to a building unlike anything they had seen before.

"Is… is that a tower made of _glass_?" Joan asked as she stared at the building they were approaching.

"It looks like…" Hermione agreed, then her eyes moved down. "Um, it seems that the bottom few feet is stone and there are solid walls inside… but what a place to live in!"

"The curtains must have cost a fortune." Ronald joked as he pulled up outside the front door. As they came to a stop, Harry and Neville stepped out and Hermione quickly undid her seat-belt.

"Harry! Neville!" She called as she scrambled out of the car and both boys laughed as she caught them in a hug. "What a place!"

"I know." Harry smiled. "The builders that Gringotts hired for me did a wonderful job."

"I thought Gringotts was just a bank." Joan commented as she got out of the car and Harry shook his head.

"They are, but they're more than that." He explained. "They also act in other areas as well. For example, they have an entire department of Cursebreakers who are trained to locate and liberate buried treasure such as the tombs of the ancient Egyptian Mage-priests. They also have a Healer department, which is kind of necessary given the things the Cursebreakers face and which I used before starting Hogwarts, although it did cost quite a bit. Anything they don't have themselves, they can hire and for a fee, they will act as intermediaries."

"Huh." Ronald managed as he closed the drivers-side door and moved to the boot. "I didn't know that."

"It's something that you need to be able to pay for." Harry shrugged. "If you take out a loan with Gringotts, they don't mention the other services as you obviously cannot afford them. It's similar to you not having a Vault, they can't check how much you have and so they don't offer."

"Harry, was this place always so…?" Hermione paused, unable to phrase what she wanted to ask and Harry laughed as she finally released them from the hug.

"No, it used to be a classic stone tower with fairly small windows. I like the feel of the sun on my skin, so when they showed me the plans, I had some changes made. I heard that they sourced the glass from the Muggle world as making it by magic would have been far more expensive… and almost impossible to create without bubbles or changes in thickness. Wizards really don't get the idea of producing things mechanically."

Hermione looked up at the five-storey glass tower, then the wings that extended outwards. The glass shone brightly, but certain panes were frosted instead of clear.

"Are those the bathrooms?" She asked, pointing to the nearest frosted pane and Harry nodded.

"Yep. Oh, hey. Let me help with the luggage and once we get it to the guest rooms, I can show you around."

Ronald's eyebrows shot up in astonishment as Harry effortlessly lifted the heavy suitcase he had been struggling with.

"He does that." Hermione sighed as she saw her father's shock. "Some sort of not-accidental accidental magic… or something."

"Sure, let's go with that." Harry chuckled as he led the group into his house where Neville and Augusta Longbottom were waiting.

"Mister and Mrs. Granger, may I introduce you to the Dowager Duchess and Regent of Longbottom House, Augusta Longbottom. Madam Longbottom, may I introduce you to Doctors Ronald and Joan Granger, parents of Hermione Granger."

"It is an honor to meet the parents of my grandson's friend." Augusta said regally as she took Ronald's proffered hand and shook it.

"The honor is ours." Ronald replied as Augusta shook hands with Joan in turn.

"Nev, if you and your gran would go to the library, I'll show the Grangers where their rooms are and then we'll join you."

"Library?" Hermione asked, almost teleporting to Harry. "You have a library?"

Harry ignored Neville's sniggering as he carefully extracted himself from Hermione's excited grip. "Come on. Let's get you settled in."

.

"Wow!" Hermione breathed as Harry led her and her parents into the library that took up the outer half of the left wing. Her eyes took in the large numbers of bookcases, shelves which were less than half-full.

"Why so few books?" She asked almost mournfully, causing her mother to raise her hand to muffle her chuckle.

"I had the library expanded slightly... I decided I didn't need the second dining hall." Harry explained as he walked to the middle, where sectional sofas surrounded a dropped section. Neville waved as Harry stepped down and sat on the sofa on one of the shorter sides.

"So, welcome to the library of The Pottery." Harry joked as Hermione craned her neck to take in the various sections. "Don't try to get to the inner upstairs section, it's warded so only members of the Potter family can access it."

"So… you for now." Neville stated.

"Yep, me… for now." Harry agreed solemnly.

Hermione looked at the area in question and her eyes picked out the rune-engraved pillars flanking where the walkways and stairs met the platform that Harry had warned them about.

"What's up there?" She asked before she could stop herself and Harry gave a bittersweet smile.

"The journals of my family and ancestors." He sighed. "The personal diaries and grimoires of generations of Potters. Their thoughts, discoveries and beliefs. Even a few parchments by the founder, Linfred the Potterer."

Hermione stared at him. "I've read about him! He was a potioneer in the twelfth century!"

"And his son took the surname Potter to remember him by." Harry confirmed.

Hermione gave the platform another longing look, causing everyone who knew her to stifle their laughter before she could take offense.

"So, I've managed to procure a large amount of finger-food and snacks to see us through the evening, thanks to Tom at the Leaky Cauldron, Aberforth at the Hog's Head and Madam Rosmerta at the Three Broomsticks plus a visit to the local Tesco… that's a large Muggle food shop, Nev." Harry commented. "I've set up the food in the dining room, we just need to open the boxes to break the stasis charms on their contents, meaning the hot stuff will still be hot and the cold stuff will still be cold."

"Sounds useful." Ronald mused.

"Yeah, but the charms only last a few days." Harry shrugged. "I do _have_ stasis cupboards, but they're reliant on runic arrays which need to be carefully carved, inlaid with metal and then charged."

"Still useful." Ronald shrugged. "Sounds like a better version of our refrigerators."

"What's a… _refrigerator_?" Neville asked.

* * *

.

"Aberforth."

"Albus." The Barkeep of the Hog's Head growled. "Shouldn't you be presiding over those brats?"

"Minerva is looking after them until I return." Albus sighed as he placed a package on the bar. "I wish you a happy new year… brother."

Aberforth watched Albus leave, then opened the package that Albus had left for him. A dusty bottle lay inside and he slowly picked it up.

"…a good vintage." He finally allowed, looking at the bottle of Firewhiskey as it reflected the lamplight, then he placed it on one of the shelves behind him.

* * *

.

The radio announcer went quiet as the chimes of Big Ben began.

"Happy new year!" Joan, Ronald and Hermione chorused as the final chime sounded, a statement followed seconds later by Harry and Neville while Augusta simply smiled and raised her glass in salute.

"Nineteen-ninety- _two_." Harry laughed. "This will be my first _full_ year as a homeowner in my own right."

"And quite a home it is too." Augusta allowed. "I will have to see about getting a conservatory added myself. The large double-layered panes of glass trap the heat quite efficiently, it will allow some of the magic used for heating to be diverted to other, better uses."

"Gringotts knows which company to contact." Harry offered and Augusta nodded in gratitude, then Hermione yawned, despite her best attempts. "Aaaaaaand now we've made it to the new year, it may be time to start winding down."

Neville failed to prevent himself from yawning too and Augusta finished her drink.

"Indeed. I am starting to feel a bit fatigued myself, so I am afraid that I will have to depart soon. Neville, the choice is yours."

"I do have a spare bedroom if you want." Harry offered and Neville smiled.

"Please."


	22. Back To School

"Well, back here once more." Harry said as he climbed out of the carriage and moved round to pat the Thestrals. The one he was stroking made a whuffling noise and gently head-butted him.

"Harry…" Hermione prompted and Harry gave the Thestral a final pat before joining his friends in re-entering Hogwarts.

"So, the kin-slayer returns." A voice sneered and Harry looked up to see Draco looking back at him from the ceiling-crossing corridor. "You only got away with it because you're famous, you know."

Harry could almost _feel_ Neville's growing anger and he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder to try and calm him down.

"You know, Draco," Harry said conversationally, pitching his voice so that everyone could hear him, "I'm quite surprised you managed to make it into Slytherin. I mean, the way you jump at things headlong, one might say you are the most _Gryffindor_ Slytherin to walk the halls of Hogwarts."

Draco's face reddened and his fingers twitched.

"I mean, you accuse me of being a murderer, but you haven't thought it through." Harry continued. "After all, if I _can_ kill people in a way that means that I can't be charged for it, do you really want to risk me turning my attention to _you_? If you still believe that I _am_ a murderer despite the interview I gave, why exactly are you trying to attract my attention to you?"

Hermione made a strangled noise of protest, but Harry was watching Draco carefully. The blond boy paled slightly, then scurried away.

"Well, let's get back to the tower, shall we?" Harry prompted as he guided his friends out of the entrance hall, completely missing the looks that a pair of red-headed boys in one of the side-doors were giving him.

.

"Well, my dear twin, it would seem that the famed _Boy-who-lived_ has a Slytherin side to be respected."

"Quite true, my brother. It does one's heart good, watching him shoot down that blond ponce."

"Indeed it does. Of course, when May finally comes around, we shall have an opportunity to see his mettle first-hand and at close range."

"You mean at Quidditch, Gred? Well, before then, the Ravens are going against the Snakes and given that he has shown he can take down Bludgers…"

"Quite so, Forge. Quite so. Which means, we must ask ourselves if the Snakes are going to try to create any _new_ tactics."

"I do not know, brother, but surely anyone who can take down not one but _two_ Bludgers with his hands has little to fear from the Slytherin Chasers."

"Quite so, Fred. That is not going to be a match to miss. Not even for a chance to plan a new prank."

"Speaking of, didn't we overhear the password to the Slytherin Common Room when we followed the Blond Twit yesterday?"

"Indeed we did, George, indeed we did. Why, what wonderful pranks are you devising?"

"Well, we do have that batch of delayed-action constant-color-changing hair dye we never found a buyer for…"

The Weasley twins snickered as they walked into the Gryffindor common room, causing the few students still there to pale and try to avoid attracting any attention to themselves.

.

"Ah, Harry, Neville, Hermione, welcome back." Filius beamed as the trio passed the door to his office which he had relocated to just inside the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room so that he was available to oversee the Ravenclaw Prefects (and intervene if he deemed it necessary). "I trust that you had a good holiday?"

"We did." Harry said, speaking for the trio. "We celebrated the new year… then kind of zonked out till late next morning."

"Several of the older students here did that too." Flitwick grinned, then he frowned dramatically. "Of course, in retrospect I suppose I should have been more suspicious about all those bottles of _It's-Not-Fire-Whiskey-Honest_ that they were drinking…"

Neville managed to turn his chuckle into a cough while Hermione giggled.

"Anyway, since the lessons don't restart until the day after tomorrow, you should have plenty of time to get settled back in." Flitwick concluded with a gracious wave.

"Thanks, uncle Fil." Harry smiled, then he slapped his forehead. "I've just remembered. I have a cloak I wanted you to look at, it was given to me anonymously and I've got no idea what spells might be on it."

"Oh, bring it in and I'll have a look."

Harry pulled his shrunken trunk out of his pocket and tapped it with his wand, expanding it to full size. Opening it, he pulled out the neatly-folded cloak and placed it on Flitwick's desk.

"Oh my." Flitwick breathed almost reverently. "Harry, this cloak once belonged to your father! And _his_ father before him!"

"A Potter Heirloom?" Neville asked and Flitwick nodded as he waved his wand, causing a mirror to appear in the corner. Another wave of his wand over the cloak seemed to satisfy him and he pointed to the mirror.

"Harry, put the cloak on and look in the mirror. There aren't any spells on it that shouldn't be there, but I think you'll find it interesting."

Harry slowly unfolded the cloak. Turning to face the mirror, he swung the cloak over his shoulders and stared at the sight of his head apparently floating in mid-air.

"An invisibility cloak!" Neville gasped. "Wow! Harry, look after that! Cloaks like that are _really_ expensive!"

Harry pulled the hood of the cloak over his head. Although the fabric slightly distorted his vision, it didn't block it and he looked round, then crept behind Hermione as quietly as he could. Reaching out, he clapped his hand onto her shoulder.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Haaaarry!"

Hermione's flailing caught a corner of the cloak, pulling it off him, then Harry had to dodge her wrath. Neville and Flitwick laughed as Hermione chased Harry around Flitwick's desk, vowing vengeance. After several minutes, Hermione slowed down and Harry used that to catch her, hugging her so that she couldn't free her arms to try and hit him.

"Uncle Fil," He said as Hermione growled at him while trying to squirm out of his grasp, "Over Christmas, I discovered I don't have much in the way of magical resistance…. in fact, I have almost none at all. I'm going to need to learn some shielding spells."

"Yes, you will." Flitwick agreed, all traces of his previous laughter gone. "However, given your ability to fend off Bludgers… I think that a Duelist's Shield would be the best place to start. You've already seen me use it in class…"

"Deflecting Malfoy's spell?" Harry asked and Flitwick nodded.

"Indeed. Whilst it is e a very small shield and thus almost useless against area-effect spells, it can be used to deflect most spells, even reflect them back to the one who fired them. However, you need excellent reflexes and co-ordination to use it. Come and see me once you've finished settling in and I'll teach it to you… Yes, Miss Granger, I'll teach you as well if you want."

Neville crammed his fist into his mouth to choke down his laughter as Hermione's puppy-dog-eyes expression vanished into a pleased grin.

"Thanks… okay, Harry. You can let me go now!"

* * *

.

"The Duelist's Shield is both incredibly simple and _very_ hard to use correctly." Flitwick said as Harry, Hermione and Neville stood before him. "It is a spell which relies on magical power and concentration, you must shape your magic to form a thin but strong shroud around your wand. Once you have done this, you must then maintain it as you physically move the wand into the path of the spell you wish to deflect. Be aware that there are many spells that this technique is useless against but in general, if you can see the spellfire and it isn't an Unforgivable, it can be deflected. Now, watch closely."

Flitwick held out his wand and a brief shimmer seemed to envelope it. "Miss Granger, if you would please send a stinging charm at me?"

Hermione twitched her wand and a spell flashed towards Flitwick, only for it to be deflected upwards, wasting itself against the ceiling.

"Well done, Miss Granger. Now, the key to the shield is concentration. You must keep control over your magic at all times, the instant you get distracted, the shield will unravel. Of course, the better you get at it, the easier it will become until you can perform the spell almost reflexively."

"And it will work against the spell Malfoy tried to hit me with?" Hermione asked and Filius nodded.

"Once you have learned it, then it will indeed." He replied.

"I still don't get how he escaped punishment for that." Harry frowned and Filius sighed.

"Because, _technically_ , he didn't break any of the rules in place at the time. Oh, Battlesticks have now been limited to NEWT-level students only, but before Christmas, it wasn't against the rules of Hogwarts to own one or use it. The spell he tried to use wasn't on the banned list, and still isn't since it is impossible for anyone below NEWT level to cast it and even amongst NEWT-level students, perhaps two in the entire year are skilled enough to be able to cast it. In other words, despite the fact that what he tried was morally reprehensible, it wasn't actually criminal."

Hermione glowered for a long moment, then Filius waved his wand at the blackboard, causing a diagram of the spell they were trying to learn to appear on it.

"This is how _I_ imagine the spell." He said as the trio looked at the image of a wand wrapped in a veritable web of lines. "Some prefer to use triangles to surround their wand, or squares. Just try different things until you find a technique you feel comfortable with, then try holding it for as long as you can."

* * *

.

"It's 'atchin!" Hagrid waved as Harry approached. "Perfessor Kettleburn's gone ta get da NEWT students, but feel free ta stay an' watch!"

Harry hid a smile as he followed Hagrid into the just-completed pen designed to hold the dragon during its early life. The pen was built of stone so that it could not be ignited and would keep the heat inside. The heat itself came from an odd type of stove that Harry had never encountered before but which had apparently been copied from an inventor in America who had created it less than two decades prior (making it a rather newfangled and untrustworthy device by Wizarding standards). A small hole held several sticks that were somehow burning sideways at their lower ends and the raised metal barrel next to it was radiating heat, as was the brickwork on the other side which formed the raised platform on which the egg was wobbling .

"Make way!" Kettleburn called and Harry scrambled sieways as the NEWT students flowed around Hagrid, taking up position around the raised area, albeit keeping a respectful distance. "Hagrid, you have the dragon food?"

Hagrid nodded and carefully waded through the students to retrieve a bucket and ladle. A cracking noise attracted their attention and Harry peeked round the pink-haired student he was behind. The Hufflepuff girl looked down and smiled.

"Wotcha, shorty. Not seen you around… ah, Harry Potter, right?"

At Harry's nod, she continued. "I'm Tonks. _Just_ Tonks and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Did you know we're cousins? Sorta…"

"Really?" Harry asked and Tonks nodded.

"Yep. Your cousin-in-law twice removed Dorea Potter was my great-aunt. Heck, I babysat you a time or two when you were still a baby… you drooled all over me."

Harry blushed and Tonks laughed.

"You're okay, squirt. Heh, good to see you again."

"Hey, Tonks, who's your new boytoy?" One of the other students asked and Tonks swatted him, her hair reddening slightly.

"Hush you, he's my cousin."

Harry grinned. He'd never really thought of himself as having a family (the Dursleys didn't count) and Tonks seemed to be a very interesting person.

A loud cracking noise sounded and everyone resumed watching the egg as a small triangular piece fell to the ground, pushed by a claw.

"You can do it!" Hagrid crooned as he knelt beside Kettleburn. "Come on, you can do it! Poppa's waitin fer ya, Norbert…"

"Norbert?" Harry whispered in disbelief. "A Dragon called… _Norbert_?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may wish to use Wikipedia to look up the Rocket Mass Heater. That's what's being used in Norbert's pen.


	23. Tonks

"Nev, Hermione, meet my cousin Tonks." Harry called as he stepped into the Ravenclaw common room. "Tonks, these are my first two friends, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom."

"Wotcha!" Tonks grinned, her hair turning blue and Hermione's eyebrows shot up.

"How did you do that?"

"She's a Metamorphmagus." Neville supplied and Tonks gave an approving nod.

"Yep, sure am. Been changing daily since I was five. Surprised the heck outta my mother first time I did it."

"And you're Harry's cousin?" Hermione asked.

"Well, sorta." Tonks wobbled her hand in the air. "It's kinda complicated and takes several generations and marriages to explain, but yeah. He's my cousin and I like him a _lot_ better than my other cousin. Then again, let's not talk about Malfoy, he's a git."

"And that's the downside." Harry mock-mourned. "If Tonks is my cousin, so's the blond pillock."

"Language, Harry!" Hermione scolded, causing Tonks to laugh.

"Oh, I'm going to _like_ you!" She declared, causing Hermione to blush slightly. "So, I'm Tonks, Seventh Year Hufflepuff Prefect and cousin to Harry… you know, once I tell mum and dad that I've met you, they'll probably invite you over for a meet-and-greet."

Harry smiled.

"Nice place you got here." Tonks continued, looking round at the walls of books and the giant map. "Bit stuffy, but not bad. Hmmm, several good books here that could be useful for my final exams… hey, Harry, okay if I get you to let me in to take a gander at these sometime? If I'm going to become an Auror, it'll really help."

"Well, it'll be up to Professor Flitwick as our Head of House, but I'll see what I can do." Harry said.

"I see no problem." Flitwick noted from behind them, causing both Harry and Tonks to jolt in surprise. "After all, the more good Aurors we can get, the better."

"Thanks, Prof." Tonks chirped, her hair changing from purple back to her usual pink. "Oh, anything I can help you with as thanks?"

"Well, Hermione, Neville and me are trying to learn the Duelists Shield…"

"Say no more!" Tonks grinned. "Tell you what, on Saturday I'll help you get it sorted. Anything for the _Boy-who-drooled_."

Harry shook his head as both Hermione and Neville looked at him in confusion.

"Tonks…" He growled warningly and his new-found cousin burst out laughing.

* * *

.

"Wotcha, Harry!"

Harry looked up as Tonks flopped down opposite him, totally ignoring the looks that the other Ravenclaws at the table were giving her.

"Hello, Tonks." Harry replied as he picked up his knife and fork ready to start cutting into the steak before him.

Tonks opened her mouth to say something, then stopped, her eyes wide as she stared at the main door of the hall. Harry turned to see what she was looking at and his eyes widened in shock.

"What the… Draco is a Metamorphmagus as well?"

"I don't think so." Tonks mused as the two boys flanking Draco finally paused, staring at his hair. Draco stalked onward, unaware that his escort had stopped, then he half-turned to see them still standing by the doors.

"What's wrong with you two?" He half-asked, half-sneered and one of the two pointed at him.

"Your hair…"

"My what?" Draco asked in confusion, then he reached up and pulled a strand of his hair forwards so that he could look at it. "What's wrong with my haAAAAAAAAAYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Draco's hair changed color again, this time turning yellow, then it changed to purple as he started to run around in panic.

"My hair! My hair! Someone _do_ something! My _glorious_ hair! What's happening to it? What's _happening_?!"

Tonks reached across the table to tap Harry's hand, then motioned to the Gryffindor table where a pair of redheads were exchanging high-fives.

"Looks like the Terrible Two managed to pull quite the prank." She noted as gales of laughter filled the Great Hall. "I wonder how they did it?"

"My hair!" Draco screamed as he ran past. "My haaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiir! It's ruined!"

"He's being such a _girl_." Hermione said before she could stop herself, earning several _looks_ amidst the snickers.

"Malfoy! Stop where you are!" Severus Snape's voice cracked across the Great Hall and Draco stumbled to a halt as the Potionsmaster stalked across to him, wand appearing in his hand in a manner very familiar to those who knew about wrist-holsters. Reaching Draco, he planted one hand on the boy's shoulder to hold him steady while his wand danced above the boy's head, causing runes to briefly appear.

"Interesting." He mused. "A potion that causes random but frequent color changes when applied externally. Draco, has anyone poured anything over your head?"

Draco shook his head and Severus gave the suddenly-innocent-looking Weasley Twins a suspicious glance.

"Washing it off will solve the issue, but before you do, I will check your shampoo."

"I also use a conditioner…" Draco half-whispered.

"Then I shall check that also." Severus sighed as he led the now-green-haired boy out of the Hall as the laughter rose once more.

"Well, whatever happened, it's going to take cousin Draco a _loooo-oooong_ time to rebuild his reputation." Tonks chuckled. "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person."

Harry nodded and started to apply himself to his food, only to pause as Tonks spoke again.

"So, I hear from my contacts in the Ravens that you've got yourself a new nickname." Tonks teased. " _Protego Potter_ as you haven't let the Quaffle past you once, no matter _what_ the Ravenclaw Chasers come up with."

"I try." Harry shrugged as he lifted a forkful of meat.

"You do indeed." Tonks agreed. "So, looking forwards to next month when you go up against the Snakes?"

Harry paused to give her the most evil grin he could and Tonks giggled, then her face changed. A moustache and goatee appeared, her nose expanded into an almost beak-like shape while her eyes turned red and narrowed.

" _That_ is a _truly_ evil grin." Neville congratulated her and Hermione nodded in agreement. Tonks laughed as her face returned to normal.

"One of the perks of my ability." Tonks smirked. "So, why _are_ you three learning the shield?"

* * *

.

"Okay, you three." Tonks said firmly. "Flitwick learned this decades ago, so he's probably forgotten the trick I'm about to show you. First, present your wands."

Harry ejected the wand from his holster, then grinned as Hermione followed suit.

"You got one, then."

"Sure did." Hermione chirped with a grin. "I've been practising with it, too."

"Pay attention!" Tonks interjected. "Now, _feel_ for your magic and how it flows through your wand. _Push_ it through and at the tip, pull it back over the wand and back to your hand, whereupon you pull it back into the wand and push it forwards again. _Feel_ how it flows and how it flexes, pull it as close to your wand as you can."

Harry frowned in concentration as his magic tried to arc away from his wand, only his willpower preventing it from doing so.

"Now, spiral it round the wand as it flows back to you." Tonks continued her instruction. "Try one way, then the other, feel which one seems better. Once you've got it, double the layer and spiral the outer layer the other way."

Harry felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead as he concentrated on manipulating his magic as Tonks was directing. After a long moment, the magic stabilised and Tonks nodded.

"Okay, Harry's got it. Nev, looking good and Hermione… _How_?"

Hermione grinned as she lifted her wand, the magical shield extending in a straight line almost three feet out of its end.

"I was inspired?"

"I had no clue you could even _do_ that!" Tonks admitted. "Okay, _that_ 's worth experimenting with. What do you call it?"

"I'm not sure." Hermione admitted, looking at the blade of pure magic. " _Mage_ saber?"

"I _gotta_ see whatever inspired _that_." Tonks admitted.

"Hermione?" Harry prompted.

"Erm… the Star Wars films…"

"I'll have to get them over the summer." Harry declared.

"Invite me?" Tonks asked, her eyes expanding to create the best _lost-puppy_ look that Harry had ever seen.

"…okay."

"Yay!" Tonks cheered, then she calmed down.

"Okay, since you all have at least the basic shield, let's test them. I'll fire a low-powered stinging jinx and you try to swat it back at me. Okay?"

All three nodded and Tonks grinned as she raised her wand.

"Get ready!"

.

"Ow." Harry groaned, rubbing his left shoulder.

"Hey, it was your fault." Tonks smirked at him. "I mean, you should have expected that Hermione'd get you back after you accidentally deflected my third jinx at her and it hit her chest. Just be grateful she didn't nail you in the _meat-and-two-veg_."

"On the other hand, we proved that my _Magesaber_ works well in deflecting spells." Hermione added and Tonks nodded.

"Yep and I am _so_ going to learn that. Maybe see if anything else can combine with it, such as a cutting spell."

"That would be _awesome_!" Hermione breathed, her eyes unfocused. "If I can learn how to lift things without a wand, I could be a Jedi!"

"A what?" Neville asked and Hermione returned to reality.

"Never mind. Probably not possible, I mean, how can I move things without a wand?"

"You mean like Accidental Magic?" Tonks asked and Hermione froze.

"Accidenta… I'm an _idiot_!" She face-palmed. "I've done it before as a child, I _just_ have to remember how I did it!"

"Um, just so you know, wands focus magic to increase the applied power." Tonks said quickly. "Without a wand, the magic spills out in all directions and only a little bit of it goes into doing what you want."

"Makes sense." Hermione admitted after a contemplative pause. "The wand acts as an antenna, like a transmission aerial."

"A what?" Neville and Tonks asked at the same time while Harry nodded in understanding.

"It's a Muggle thing." Hermione sighed.

* * *

.

"Nice." Flitwick said in admiration as he watched Harry, Hermione and Neville use a stinging spell in a manner similar to a tennis ball, deflecting and reflecting it at each other, even using different striking styles to vary its speed. A slow move away from the incoming spell sent it back at a slower speed while a quick parry could double the spell's velocity.

"Yep, they've got it." A voice said from the corner and Flitwick mentally cursed himself as he turned to see who had spoken. He had _aced_ the Situational Awareness tests as a spawnling, there was _no way_ he should have let himself get so sloppy!

"Ah, Tonks." He said, showing no signs of his internal self-beration. "I assume that you are the one who has been helping them?"

"Yep." Tonks grinned as she lifted her own wand. "Hey, wanna test them?"

Flitwick nodded and Tonks' grin widened in a way that only a Metamorphmagus could achieve.

"Okay, brats, three-on-two and we've got you outnumbered!" She shouted. Neville responded not with words, but by swinging his wand to launch the stinging jinx at her, then his shield lengthened, as did Harry's.

"…how?" Flitwick gasped as he reflexively parried the incoming spell, then his eyes narrowed. "Ah, I think I see… so if I do _this_ …"

"And _that_ is why he's a Charms Master!" Tonks exclaimed as Flitwick's Duelist's Shield extended into a rapier-like magical blade.

"Alright, let's see what you can do." Flitwick smiled, his normally-genial expression becoming one that looked demonic even as he deflected the jinx once again.

.

"Well, that was certainly quite a workout." Flitwick noted as he looked round the classroom. The other four occupants, all of whom were sprawled on the floor, groaned.

"How did we lose?" Harry finally managed. "I mean, Tonks joined us, we had him outnumbered four to one!"

"I think he had _us_ outnumbered one to four." Neville managed.

"I need fencing lessons." Hermione gasped. "I didn't know the shield _could_ be used that way…"

"He disarmed me _three_ times!" Harry groaned as he levered himself into a sitting position. "How?"

"What sort of Dueling Master would I be if I didn't know how to use a Rapier?" Flitwick asked with a smirk. "Several of the competitions require you to use both sword _and_ wand. If you want, I could arrange for a Fencing Tutor to come in on… say, Saturdays to help you learn?"

"How much will it cost?" Harry asked, earning a wordless protest from Hermione.

"Ah, Harry, you really _are_ coming to understand the Goblin mindset." Flitwick praised. "I'll have a list for you by tomorrow… for a five percent fee."

"Sounds fair." Harry agreed and Hermione gave them both a look of confusion.


	24. Facing Snakes

The noise of the crowd echoed down the corridor to the changing rooms, but Harry failed to hear it. Instead, he and the other members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team were staring in shock at their captain.

"Please tell me you're kidding!" Cho Chang begged and Roger Davis shook his head.

"Nope, word's got out about our Keeper and the WWN has sent a reporter _and_ an official commentator.

"Oh. Joy." Harry groaned, then he brightened. "Hey, I bet this will be the _cleanest_ game the Snakes have ever played."

.

"Listen up!" Marcus Flint, the Captain of the Slytherin team growled. "I don't _care_ how we _normally_ do things, I don't give a _shit_ about how we win by pounding the other side so they can't play or how we used to sabotage their brooms after stealing the access spell from our previous Head of House, _this_ time we play by the rules!"

"Why?"

Marcus fixed the luckless Beater with a glare that was only a hair away from being a non-verbal AK.

"Because I said so!" He snarled. "And because it's not just the other Houses watching today, it's all of Wizarding England via the Wireless! If we even Blatch _once_ , Slytherin won't be _rumored_ to be the House of Cheats, it'll be _known_ as the House of Cheats and you can all kiss goodbye to any career you may want once you graduate!"

"But… the bounty…" The Seeker started, only to cringe as Marcus turned his glare at him in turn.

"I know!" He stated through clenched teeth. "But if you _really_ think that a hundred and forty Galleons will get you settled for life…?"

"The bounty was a Thousand if Potter was sent to the Infirmary…" The Seeker managed to point out.

"Divided _seven_ ways?" Marcus prompted. "I did the maths. It works out at a hundred and forty-two Galleons, twelve sickles and four knuts each. Well?"

"You can't even buy a Nimbus 2000 for that!" One of the Chasers gasped and Flint nodded.

"Right. Less than a new Broomstick to hospitalize Potter or slightly more than enough to buy one if you kill him, but if you do, you won't be able to spend it because you'll be IN AZKABAN! So, keep it clean… _or else_!"

.

Harry finished tying up his boots, his mind racing as he thought about what he had overheard.

 _Who would pay two thousand Galleons to kill me… wait. Stupid question. Draco's dad, the one who tried to get Hermione kicked out. I'm going to have to consider this_ very _carefully_.

"Okay, people." Roger Davis said as he stood by the doorway that led towards the pitch. "Remember to stay safe out there. Chasers, your primary mission is evasion. Score if possible, but keep clear of their Beaters. Beaters, counter-attack. Target whichever Beater has acted worse and team up. If you can get them both down, it'll open up the field for the rest of us. Potter, we need your top game for this."

"You've got it." Harry nodded as he fastened the chest-straps of his robe over the protective pads he wore underneath.

"Cho, you did good locating the Snitch last time, see if you can get it _fast_."

"I'll keep an eye on Harry whenever I can't see the Snitch." Cho stated, then she looked round at the quizzical expressions most of the team had. "What, you weren't paying attention in our last match? He kept pointing it out to me."

"Huh…" Roger managed. "…good?"

.

"Luna!" Ginny Weasley almost squealed as her best friend skipped up to the door.

"Hello, Ginny." Luna Lovegood smiled. "Father's gone to Hogwarts to cover the Quidditch match."

"The one with Harry Potter?" Ginny asked and Luna nodded, her hair briefly forming a cloud around her head before she brushed it back.

"Hello, Luna." Molly greeted the new arrival. "I'm glad you could make it, I've made some snacks and moved the wireless onto the table so we can sit round and listen to it."

Ginny grabbed Luna's hand and almost dragged the slightly-smaller girl through to the dining room of the oddly-constructed house, her mother following with a gentle laugh. Within moments, they were all sat around the table, bowls of snack foods and small rolls spread in front of them and a large jug of iced water with slices of apple floating in it for flavour ready to fill their glasses. Reaching out, Molly tapped the wireless with her wand, causing it to spring into life.

"… _and now the teams are coming out onto the field.  
First it's the Slytherin team, led by their Captain and Chaser  
_ _Marcus Flint flanked by fellow-Chasers Adrian Pucey and…"_

"This is going to be totally _awesome_!" Ginny whispered to Luna, who nodded in agreement.

"… _as their Beaters. With Miles Bletchley acting as Keeper and  
_ _Terence Higgs as Seeker, they have a strong all-male line-up.  
_ _And now come the Ravenclaws, led by their Captain and also  
_ _Chaser Roger Davis, flanked by Anna Gedes and…"_

"Do either of you want a drink yet?" Molly asked as she poured some of the chilled Apple-water into her own cup. Ginny shook her head, concentrating on the Wireless, but Luna passed her glass over with a smile.

"… _and Harry Potter as Keeper! Although he's only eleven, he's  
_ _already gained the nickname_ Protego Potter _as he's blocked  
_ _every shot in his previous match_ and _in every training session!  
_ _Rounding out their team is Cho Chang in the position of Seeker._

_The Captains have landed and are being joined by Hogwart's  
_ _own flying instructor and referee, retired from the professional  
_ _circuit, Madam Rolanda Hooch, carrying the box holding the balls  
_ _that are to be used. Apparently the Bludgers were cursed to attack  
_ _Potter in the previous game, so these ones are security-enhanced.  
_ _She's put down the box and the captains are shaking hands. Now  
_ _the teams are taking to the air with Potter flying to the Ravenclaw  
_ _Hoops without any acrobatics, but then again, he doesn't need them.  
_ _And the balls have been released!_

_The Bludgers are already in motion and the Snitch has vanished. The  
_ _Quaffle is in Hooch's hand… and she's thrown it! Pucey swoops in to  
_ _grab the Quaffle, but is beaten to it by Gedes, that girl can_ move _! She  
_ _feints left, swerves right and… a_ perfect _pass! A classic One-Two-Three  
_ _and she's got the Quaffle again and is arcing in! Bletchley looking very  
_ _nervous and… He deflected it!_ Just _managed to reach out and hit it!  
_ _Flint takes possession and manages to avoid a rising intercept, rolls to  
_ _dodge and swerves left to go diagonally… wait, what are the Slytherin  
_ _Beaters doing? They've corralled the Bludgers and are… They've just  
_ _delivered matched smashes and the Bludgers have whipped past Flint  
_ _heading straight for Potter! The Ravenclaw Beaters are out of position,  
_ _what will Potter do? Flint coming in using the Bludgers as a screen to open  
_ _the Ravenclaw hoops and… By Merlin's Beard! Potter rolls out to dodge the  
_ _first and grabs the second, redirecting it to intercept the Quaffle! He's used  
_ _the Bludger to block the shot! Davis grabs the Quaffle and dives through…"_

"EEEEEEEE!" Ginny squealed. "He used a _Bludger_ to block the shot? That's _awesome_!"

"I think that the twins'll be staring in shock at him by now." Molly joked as she helped herself to a small roll with a sausage baked into it.

"… _and Chang dives! She's spotted the Snitch near the far side of the pitch  
_ _and it looks like Higgs thought she was trying to fake him out! He dives as  
_ _well, but Chang's in the lead and is closing in on the… OOH! She manages to  
_ just _dodge a Bludger sent her way, but it's cost her! The Snitch has vanished  
_ _once again and… the Ravenclaw Chasers used her dive as a distraction and  
_ _Bletchley's out of position! Score! First goal to Ravenclaw! Ten points to zero!_

"Hah!" Ginny snorted. "Higgs isn't as good as Potter!"

"Which Potter?" Luna asked, earning quizzical looks from the two Weasley females. "The one we're hearing about now or the one in your old books?"

Ginny froze, unable to give an answer, but then her attention was dragged back to the radio.

"… _and Potter dives off his broom! No, he's still holding onto it as he kicks the  
_ _Quaffle away and_ what _a kick! Pucey unable to intercept as Ravenclaw take  
_ _control of the match again! The Ravenclaws are doing a complex weave as  
_ _they approach the Slytherin hoops and… Bletchley guesses wrong! He blocks  
_ _the middle hoop, but he should have blocked the right! Twenty – zero and now  
_ _Slytherin take back control of the Quaffle… Ooouch, Pucey hit by a bludger and  
_ _drops the Quaffle… Davis rises to the occasion and does a textbook Rising Hawk,  
_ _bypassing Bletchley and scoring again! That_ has _to have hit the Slytherin team  
_ _straight in their ego! That's thirty points to Ravenclaw and zero to Slytherin._

 _Flint takes possession, brushes close to Pucey and then charges down the left  
_ _flank… dodges both Bludgers but the Ravenclaw Chasers are closing in on him  
_ _as he… it was a decoy! Pucey has the Quaffle and he loops round to take the  
_ _shot… What a save! Harry_ leaps _off his broom, grabs the top of the right Hoop  
_ _and uses it to swing round and kick the Quaffle straight into the hands of the  
_ _Ravenclaw Chasers! But without his broom, can he… Oh my word! Potter just  
_ _launched himself into the air and… he's grabbed his broom! He's back on as if  
_ _he never dismounted! He's going to be getting job offers from every Quidditch  
_ _team in the country at this rate! What a daring player he is!"_

"Go Potter! Go Potter! Go Potter!" Ginny and Luna chanted. Molly laughed, then joined in before they all broke off in giggles.

"… _and again Bletchley is caught flat-footed as the Ravenclaw Chasers blast  
_ _past his defense like he isn't even there! I guess that after training against  
_ _Potter, all the other Keepers may as well not bother to show up… and Chang  
_ _accelerates towards the Ravenclaw poles where the Snitch has appeared!_

 _Once again, Higgs is in completely the wrong place and… Oooh! Chang takes  
_ _a glancing blow from a Bludger and almost spins out, but recovers. The Snitch  
_ _is gone, though, but once again the 'claws used her dash as a distraction! One  
_ _well-timed over-and-round and the score is_ sixty _to zero! Chang dives straight  
_ _down and this time Higgs is in position to follow! They're heading straight for  
_ _the middle of the pitch with Chang jinking, but there's no sign of the Snitch…  
_ _Chang pulls out in a textbook Wronski Feint, clearing the pitch by only three  
_ _feet but Higgs doesn't react in time and although he tries to pull out, he hits  
_ _the grass and goes tumbling! Chang pulls up and Higgs is still mobile, but he  
_ _still needs to get back into the air before Chang spots the Snitch once again."_

Ginny reached out for a snack, only to find that Luna was reaching for the same thing she was. The two girls looked at their entwined hands, then giggled as they scooped up some of the preserved and sweetened apple segments.

"… _another goal from Ravenclaw and Bletchley looking_ furious _at how he was  
_ _suckered out of position! Whoever came up with the Ravenclaw's Playbook  
_ _will find themselves in high demand from the professionals. It seems to be a  
_ _very one-sided match and… both Bludgers fired at Chang but the Ravenclaw  
_ _Beaters seem to come out of_ nowhere _and smash both Bludgers straight  
_ _at Bletchley, clearing the way for_ another _goal! If Ravenclaw continue at  
_ _this rate, the Snitch won't matter and… and it doesn't matter as Chang has  
_ _caught the Snitch! She's caught it and the match is over! The Slytherins did  
_ _not even get a single goal and the final score is two-hundred and thirty to  
_ _Ravenclaw while the Slytherins got zero points! What a beat-down by the  
_ _Ravens! Flint looking like he's about to explode, but the match is over and  
_ _Ravenclaw have won! I repeat, Ravenclaw have won!"_

Molly leaned back and smiled as her daughter and her daughter's best friend held hands and danced around the dining room, cheering and celebrating.

.

"Gred?"

"Yes, Forge?"

"Potter is totally insane, isn't he?"

"Quite possibly, my dear brother."


	25. Fans And Conclusions

"Harry?" Hermione called as she opened the classroom door. "It's almost curfew… what the…?"

Harry looked up from the letter that he was writing. On each side of the desk he was using sat a large bag half-filled with letters while a third bag was on the next desk over.

"Oh, hey." Harry waved, putting down his pen, then he put his hands against the back of his head and stretched. "How'd you find me? I chose this classroom because no-one ever seems to _use_ this entire part of the school."

"The Weasley twins told us where you were." Neville answered. "Don't ask me how they knew, because I have no clue. What are you doing?"

"Answering fan mail." Harry sighed. "It's _amazing_ how much free time all these witches and wizards have… and how many of the former want me to marry them. I swear, I've received almost as many marriage proposals as I had to deal with over Christmas!"

Neville's lips twitched in a suppressed smirk as Hermione gaped at him.

"M… _marriage_? B… but…"

"Calm down, Hermione." Harry said placatingly.

"But you're only _eleven_!" Hermione protested.

"But I'm _emancipated_." Harry countered with a sigh. "Did you know that for emancipated witches and wizards, the marriageable ages are twelve and ten respectively?"

Hermione opened and closed her mouth as she fought to assemble a sentence.

"I think the last time that either happened was over a century ago." Neville mused. "If I remember correctly, it was one of the now-ended families…"

"Well, I'm _not_ interested in marriage _or_ romance." Harry said firmly. "I have friends and that's all I need for now. Romance can wait until I start needing to shave."

"So, fan mail." Neville noted as he walked over to Harry's side. "Need any help?"

"I've got a system sorted, although it'll take me several evenings." Harry sighed, rubbing at his right hand. "Fortunately, I paid Gringotts to set up a Mail Ward and pre-sort the letters before forwarding them to me. While it costs seven knuts per letter, Gringotts are _good_ at separating out any letters with spells on them. And Howlers too. Every week, they send a list of what they found and who tried to send it. It makes for _interesting_ reading and the DMLE gets a copy too. Apparently the resulting fines mean that I'm making a profit _despite_ the ward costs."

"I bet that several people have had to answer some _very_ pointed questions." Neville snorted. "I remember the last time that someone tried to send a cursed letter to Gran, she decided to go and _reason_ with him. The next time I saw him at the Wizengamot, he was still walking funny and had no hair."

Hermione fought down a chuckle at the mental image, then pulled a chair over so that she could sit by Harry's side.

"Need any help?"

"Nah, I'm good." Harry said with a slight shake of his head. "I've got a good system going."

"Okay." Hermione agreed, then she sniffed. "Have you been burning things?"

Harry froze for a moment, then shrugged. "Erm, sure. Let's go with that."

"That's very irresponsible, burning things when there's all this paper around…" Hermione started to lecture, only to be interrupted by Neville's surprised yell. Harry glanced over to see a moving picture fall to the ground.

"Ah, _those_. Yeah… as I said, I'm not interested in marriage right now."

Hermione blinked, then picked up the picture. Turning it over, she stared at it, eyes wide.

"She… she's taking off her… why is she putting her feet behind…"

Harry snagged the picture out of her shaking hands and binned it. Hermione stared at the half-full bin as if it had turned into a Troll.

"So, any complaints about me burning things?" Harry chuckled and Hermione jerkily shook her head.

"Look, I've only got a few more letters to go before I'm done for the night." Harry said soothingly. "You two head off, I'll finish up here. Okay?"

Neville nodded in agreement and moved to the door. Hermione waited for a moment, then sighed with exasperation before stomping out. Harry watched them go, then opened another letter, one lacking the scent of the previous one.

* * *

_To Harry Potter._

_My friend Luna and I are going to become students at Hogwarts next year, but Luna doesn't have any siblings while I only have brothers. I am writing to ask if you know a witch who would be willing to write to us about what we can expect and how we should prepare for the day we come to Hogwarts…_

* * *

"Huh." Harry said in surprise. "Well, I think Hermione might appreciate a Penpal…"

.

Harry placed the last response in the bag to go to the Post office and stood up, then he paused as a voice impinged on his awareness. Fingering the Pass he had asked Flitwick for in order to get enough time to finish his writing, he edged to the window, peeped out just long enough to see two cloaked figures near the border of the Forest, then he ducked below the windowsill, closed his eyes and _listened_.

"… you found out how to get past that beast of…"

"B-b-but Severus, I…"

"You don't want ..."

"…know what you…"

"…perfectly well what I mean…y our little bit of hocus pocus…"

"…d-don't…"

"…another little chat… where your loyalties…"

The fragments of conversation broke off and Harry frowned.

"Professor Snape and… was that Professor Quirrell?"

No asnwer came and Harry risked another glance out of the window, but there were no signs of anyone there.

"Could this be linked to the stone?" Harry mused. "But surely Quirrell would know how to get past Fluffy… unless they did the obstacles from the last to the first so each one doesn't know what the others have done unless they discuss it… means he probably only knows his own part… and Snape only knows his… and Hagrid's… hmmmm… okay. Let's think. Which professors did I overhear Filius and McGonogall talking about… McGonogall did something with a chess set, Uncle Fil charmed keys… Quirrel was a troll, that one should be easy enough. Fluffy'll let me past. Snape is doing something with potions… the vines below the trapdoor were probably Professor Sprout. I don't see Binns trying to do anything… no clue about Professor Vector…. maybe I'm over-thinking this."

Harry continued to stare at the far wall blankly, then he face-palmed.

"Dumbledore! The mirror! I wonder… is the mirror still there?"

.

The room was empty.

Harry carefully paced across the floor, passing through the place that had once been occupied by the _Mirror of Erised_ to ensure that it hadn't simply been turned invisible or something similar. However, the area that the mirror had once occupied proved to be spectacularly unresistant to his progress through it.

"As Headmaster, Dumbledore's obstacle must be the last one." Harry mused quietly. "So, what did he say about the Mirror? Ah yes, _to those unprepared or weak-willed, the Mirror of Erised is indeed a trap, causing them to stand before it and stare into it until they waste away_. So, the mirror is almost certainly the last obstacle, Dumbledore's probably hidden the stone in it somehow. Wish I knew which one it was… although if it's someone wanting to bring Voldie back, it'll probably be the Resurrection Stone. So, Fluffy and vines are the first two. Keys, Troll, Chess and potions in some order or another, possibly with a few other obstacles thrown in, ending with a mirror created to trap the unwary. I suppose that by the time you've made your way through all the other obstacles, you would be rather tired and getting careless… huh?"

A _mew_ echoed down the corridors and Harry winced.

"Shit! That's Filch's cat, meaning I need to get out of here since this area isn't covered by my pass! Let's see… aha!"

Harry opened the window and swung out onto the narrow ledge. Closing the window behind him, he moved across to the nearest drainpipe and used it to swarm up the wall to the roof, from where he had a clear run back to the Ravenclaw tower.

Back in the room he had just vacated, a cupboard in the corner wavered before vanishing, revealing Dumbledore standing where it had been, a proud smile on his face.

"Well done, young Harry." He whispered. "Your reasoning is almost flawless. Although I do wonder where you got the idea that it is the _Resurrection_ Stone that I am protecting…"

"Gotcha, you little… ah. Um. Good evening, Headmaster."

"Ah, Filch, The stars are bright tonight, aren't they?"

"If you like that sort of thing." The School's Caretaker sniffed. "Come on, Mrs Norris. Let's see if we can't track down more of those errant brats."

Albus watched the caretaker leave, then turned to the window that was still ajar.

"Intriguing. I would have expected Harry to be using his father's Cloak to traverse the Halls of Hogwarts, not for him to be scrambling around the outer walls… perhaps I had better check the cushioning charms around the outside. He may yet need them…"

.

Neville slitted his eyes open as the window swung open, then Harry clambered into their room with barely a whisper of noise. As Harry latched the window closed again, Neville decided to speak up.

"So, found any… _how_ did you do that?"

Harry rolled off the wooden top of the four-poster bed with an embarrassed chuckle. "Jeez, Nev. You scared several years growth out of me!"

"Says the boy who just climbed the outside of the tower and then jumped onto the canopy of his bed." Neville pointed out, plucking his wand from the stand on his bedside table and waving it to activate the lights, albeit at a low level. "So. What caused you to decide you needed to come in via the window rather than the door?"

"I was just checking something." Harry sighed as he pulled his pajamas out from underneath his pillow. "Dumbledore had a magic mirror in a room, the _Mirror of Erised_. It apparently shows you what you most desire, but something like that…"

Neville nodded slowly. "Yeah. If it doesn't show you _how_ … So, why were you looking for it?"

"I heard Quirrell and Snape talking." Harry shrugged as he turned his back on Neville in order to get changed. "You remember back at the Feast, Dumbledore's warning about the third floor? Well, the first obstacle is a Cerberus named Fluffy. He's quite eager to please, once you show him who's boss. After that are some vines of some sort."

"Interesting." Neville mused. "Was the area well-lit or dark?"

"Pitch black." Harry supplied. "There were also puddles on the floor."

"If I was doing something to slow down people or stop them, I'd use Devil's Snare." Neville stated after a moment's thought. "It dislikes bright light, though, so a high-power _lumos_ should be sufficient to get through. Anything else?"

"From what I overheard, a troll, chess, something with keys and something with potions, then the mirror used to hide the Stone, whichever one it is." Harry admitted and Neville leaned back, looking thoughtful.

"It sounds more like a series of tests than a proper security system." He finally admitted. "If Dumbledore wanted to hide something so that it couldn't be found, all he'd have to do is use a _Fidelius_ with himself as the Secret Keeper."

Harry frowned as he followed Neville's thoughts. "So… Dumbledore mentioned that the mirror could be used as a trap… if someone's after the Stone, Dumbledore hints it's in the mirror behind all the traps and whoever wants it goes through all the obstacles and by the time they reach the mirror, they're tired enough that it traps them for Dumbledore to collect at leisure. Sneaky."

"Guess we don't have to do anything about it, then." Neville yawned as Harry shed his robe and donned his pajama top.

"That's the best news I've heard this week." Harry agreed as he tumbled into his own bed. "So, do you want to switch off the lanterns, or shall I?"

Neville waved his hand, causing the room to darken.

"Show-off." Harry chuckled and Neville laughed.

"I'm just awesome."

Harry looked at Neville, catching him replacing his wand in its stand despite the darkness.

"You were holding it in your _left_ hand, weren't you?"

" _Goodnight_ , Harry."


	26. Viewpoints

Draco sat in the corner of the Slytherin Common Room, frowning in thought.

The recent (and highly-publicized) drubbing of the Slytherin Quidditch Team had severely reduced the awe that most of the House of Cunning had for the seven flyers and Draco was already making plans for the next year, having written to his mother to secure private Quidditch training over the upcoming summer with an emphasis on the position of Chaser (although Seeker was a possibility).

However, although that would help with the next year, it was _this_ year that was proving problematic. Not only had Potter managed to counter or avoid both of his father's schemes, he had forced his father to make a donation to Hogwarts and although the money had gone to the Potions department (Lucius was very respectful of Professor Snape's skills), it still acted to reinforce Dumbledore's position, meaning that Lucius would not be able to maneuver his way into the Headmaster's Chair this year and Draco wouldn't be given the advantages he so rightfully deserved.

He needed to do something to damage the reputation of _Saint Potter_ , but what?

Rumors were a possibility, but Potter seemed almost immune to them and those that he was affected by, he tended to move against quite spectacularly.

Violence was another option, but Draco had heard that Professor Flitwick was training Potter and his hangers-on. Going up against someone personally trained by a five-times European Dueling Champion was a risky proposition at best and was far more likely to be a socially suicidal move, if not a literal one.

Even going to Professor Snape for advice wasn't an option these days. Although the Head of Slytherin did act to protect his Snakes, the one time Draco had complained about Potter, Snape had glared at him and told him to keep such comments to himself. Draco didn't know what Potter was blackmailing him with in order to keep the Potions Master from taking the proper steps to slap him down and put him in his proper place, but it was undeniable that Potter did have leverage that Draco needed to uncover as soon as possible and bring to his father's attention.

Then again, considering how his father had reacted by banning him from repeating his statement when Draco noted that the non-pureblood author T.M. Riddle was obviously beneath them, he wasn't as certain as he was before that his father was still in full command of his faculties.

Once the summer holidays began, he might have to add lessons in how to manage finances and the other responsibilities of being Head of House to his planned Quidditch practices.

If his father was starting to slip, he needed to be ready to take over and ensure his father was kept safe from those who would try to use his faulty strategems against him.

The fact it would place him in charge of the famed Malfoy Fortune was simply a nice bonus.

* * *

.

Hermione glared at the blank sheet in front of her.

"Need help?" Sue Li asked as she sat down beside Hermione. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Harry managed to persuade me to write to some girls who are coming to Hogwarts next year and want advice." Hermione admitted with a sigh. "I've never had a Pen-pal before and now Harry drops _two_ of them on me! What do I write?"

"Who are the girls?" Sue asked.

"Ginny and Luna. I don't know this Luna's surname, but Ginny is apparently related to Fred and George."

"A Weasley?" Sue asked in surprise. "Odd, for generations, they've only had boys."

Hermione gave Sue a sideways glance. "So?"

"Do you know how many families _want_ a curse like that put on them?" Sue asked in shock. "I mean, boys mean that the family name keeps going, that the family line won't become subsumed into another family. Quite a few families have resorted to things like Blood Adoption in order to ensure that they keep going. Heck, the Bones Family is likely to end in this generation, only two of them are still alive and _both_ of them are female!"

"I… didn't realize." Hermione said slowly. "I mean, I thought that men and women were equal here…"

"Legally, we are." Sue shrugged. "With magic, you can't really claim superiority since the other gender can hit you with magic just as easily and there are some potions that can actually change a person's gender, although they tend to be quite expensive. Heck, the Magical World has had effective sexual equality since soon after the Statute of Secrecy split us from the Muggle world. Of course, the family-name thing is _traditionally_ male, and I'm sure you've seen what we're like with traditions."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Merlin, yes. Do anything three times and it's a tradition that can't be changed."

"If it works, why risk changing it?" Sue pointed out, then she looked behind her as her name was called. "Oops, got to go. I'll send Padma across to help, her sister knows some of the Weasleys so she may have some insights you can use."

After Sue had departed, Hermione shook her head.

" _If it works, why risk changing it_." She quoted. "No wonder it seems like I'm still in the Middle Ages!"

"Hey, Hermione." Padma smiled as she took the seat that Sue Li had just vacated. "So, what's this I hear about you blaming Harry for your new Penpals?"

* * *

.

Neville finished tamping the soil down around the Whomping Willow sapling, his hands darting between the clumsy (but surprisingly powerful) blows the three-inch-high sprout was trying to deliver.

"Done!" He called and Professor Sprout looked up from her own work.

"Well done, Mr. Longbottom." She smiled approvingly. "That's all for now, so take twenty points for volunteering to help out and go get something to eat. Plants aren't the only things that need fuel to grow, you know."

Neville nodded as he stripped off his gloves, rubbing at the bruise on his left hand where he had _almost_ avoided the strike. Placing the gloves in the box set aside for them, he stepped out of the greenhouse, the cold air hitting him almost like a slap. A glance to one side showed him that the Ravenclaw team was still practising for their next match, then he strode towards Hogwarts. Tonks had shown him where the Kitchens were and he was feeling quite hungry.

Motion caught his eye and he half-turned, fingers ready to make the sign that would activate the low-powered banishing charm in his wrist-holster, but it was only a Centaur vanishing back into the Forbidden Forest.

Relaxing, Neville glanced at the end of the three-inch-long holster just visible and not for the first time, he wondered how practical such a device would have been without the interior-expansion charm that allowed him to store his thirteen-inch wand without it poking out past his elbow.

Shaking off his mental wanderings, Neville strode confidently into Hogwarts.

He had a meal to find.

* * *

.

In his private study, Severus Snape slowly closed the book he had been reading and, with a trembling hand, stroked the cover.

Although he was truly grateful to Lily's son for sharing the journals of the one who had once been his closest friend, he wasn't looking forwards to the next one, the journal which held within it Lily's view of his deepest mistake, the one sentence… no, the one _word_ that had shattered the friendship that he had valued above anything and everything else in his life. A mistake that had ruined his future and sent him into the service of one of the darkest, most evil people ever to stride across the land.

"Lily…" He whispered, his eyes fixed on the book yet unseeing, "Every day I have regretted my actions… will you ever forgive me?"

His only answer was silence.

* * *

.

Tonks spun out of the way of a stunner and stutter-stepped to dodge a trio of piercing hexes launched at her by the Charms professor. Her response was a barrage of stunners, binding spells and various impediment jinxes, all of which the diminutive Professor managed to dodge, block or deflect in a flurry of motion which was somehow both incredibly controlled and explosively energetic at the same time.

A leap carried her over a purple-and-teal spell she didn't recognize, then she fell as the floor beneath suddenly turned frictionless.

" _Ooof!_ "

A flicker of motion was all the warning she received, but it was enough as she frantically jack-knifed into the air. Although the landing once again robbed her of her breath it didn't actually stop her from acting, even as she impacted on the slippery flagstones, she managed to fire a wide-angle low-powered stunner in order to buy the time she needed to recover.

"Time!"

The floor beneath her regained its roughness and Tonks slumped, panting.

"Well done." Flitwick congratulated her and she mentally snarled at him for managing to sound as if he hadn't had to exert himself at all. "Your reflexes are very good and the way that you used your Metamorphmagi skills to help you dodge _my_ spells was quite ingenious."

Tonks slowly levered herself into a sitting position as Flitwick conjured a cushion and dropped onto it, resting his hands on his knees.

"You're slightly better now than most Aurors after six months." He stated and Tonks smiled. "Of course, more practice wouldn't hurt."

Tonks groaned and Flitwick chuckled.

"Don't worry." He said reassuringly. "You're picking up the tricks of dueling and combat quite quickly."

"Thanks." Tonks grimaced as she rubbed at her aching ribs.

"Now." Flitwick said seriously. "Let us work through the duel. What mistakes did you make and how could you have taken control of the battle?"

Tonks began to search through her memories of the battle, but even with her Occlumancy training, it was difficult to remember each spell and evasion in order.

Naturally, Flitwick wouldn't have any issues at all due to his decades of experience.

Damn Harry for bringing her to Flitwick's attention.

Even if she was probably going to be the Valedictorian of the Auror graduating class as a result…

* * *

.

"Nice one, Percy!"

The aforementioned redhead nodded in acknowledgement to his younger twin brothers as he swooped down into a near-perfect landing, one hand holding the Training Snitch firmly.

"Good one." Oliver Wood said approvingly. "Less than thirty minutes and we'll need that against the Ravens."

"With _Protego Potter_ "/"preventing anyone from scoring"/"against Ravenclaw, you"/"need to get the Snitch"/"before they score enough"/"that they'll win anyway."

"Will you two _please_ stop talking like that?" Percy sighed as he handed the Snitch over to Wood, then he looked up as someone clapped from the stands.

"Charles?"

"Hey, Percy." Charlie called as he waved down at his three younger brothers. "Running Seeker training drills?"

Both Oliver and Percy nodded and Charlie reached down to pick up a broom.

"A brand new Comet S3, brother. Trade you."

Percy re-mounted his broomstick and flew up to his older brother, who stepped aside to let him land.

"Charles… this is worth far more than _my_ broom…"

"Trade. You." Charlie repeated firmly, almost snatching Percy's broom and replacing it with the newer model. "If you want to thank me, then make sure that _you_ are the one to get the Snitch when you go up against the Ravens. I've seen their Seeker and she's pretty good."

"Not to mention just pretty!" One of the twins called up.

"If you're behind her, make sure you get a good look!" The other joked and Percy face-palmed.

"Why do I put up with them again?"

"Probably because they're the best Beaters in Gryffindor despite being total idiots." Charlie said with a straight face. Percy nodded in agreement as the twins made noises of disagreement.

"So, how long before you head back to Romania?"

"Another three days." Charlie shrugged. "I have to say, while Hagrid may not be well-read when it comes to dragons, he _really_ understands them on an instinctual level. I think I've learned more from him than I have at the Dragon Reserve."

Percy nodded, then he looked down at a shout from the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.

"Time to practice again." He sighed as he straddled the S3 and rose smoothly into the air. Charlie grinned and followed him up, earning a confused look.

"You need to practice, and what better way than a competition." Charlie grinned. "Let me show you how a _real_ Seeker flies!"

Percy gave him an affronted look, then suddenly rolled into a dive. Charlie eyes tracked his vector and quickly spotted the moving golden glint.

"Nice one, Percy, but is it nice enough?" He whispered to himself as he dove to pick up speed and try to beat his brother to the Snitch.


	27. Bits Of The Puzzle

Harry frowned in thought as he left the DADA classroom. Professor Quirrell had once again failed to teach them very much, but now that he was actually paying attention he could see that the teacher's stutter was faked.

"Thank goodness for the study group." Hermione sighed from just behind him as they made their way down the corridor. "If not for that and the books you tracked down for us, we'd be falling _so_ far behind…"

"Plus, it really doesn't hurt that Harry keeps acting as the tutor, and he's _so_ easy on the eyes." Padma commented, quietly enough that if Harry didn't possess extraordinary hearing, he would have missed the comment.

"Padma!" Sue Li scolded almost as quietly.

"What? You know it's true…"

Harry shook his head in amused bemusement, then shifted the bag he was carrying. The next lesson was History and Binns would still be reciting the first-year textbook word for word. Harry had prepared and read ahead (as had pretty much all the other Ravenclaws), meaning that the final lesson of the day was effectively a free period for him.

He had a few letters to write and some notes to add to the booklet he was using.

Whatever was wrong with Quirrell, it seemed to be getting worse.

Even the other students were starting to complain about the aroma of garlic surrounding the DADA teacher, an aroma that Harry's enhanced senses had picked up in the first lesson, along with a secondary scent which somehow smelled familiar, but which he couldn't place, yet kept niggling at his mind. It was a scent that was almost sickly sweet, yet at the same time, somehow sour, almost catching in his throat…

Once again, Harry shook off the train of thought and made a mental note to visit Fluffy again after tea. Perhaps he could help Hagrid take it on its regular evening run while three teachers kept watch over the room in its absence.

* * *

.

"The last of our matches is coming up in a couple of weeks." Roger Davis stated as everyone sat round the table that several seventh-year students had enchanted for them as an extra-credit assignment, working from an idea that Hermione had provided. Above the table, small miniatures of the various Quidditch players floated, most of them well-painted but one of them still rather plain and Roger indicated that figure. "They've switched their third chaser… again… so we're not certain who it is. Cho, they've got Percy Weasley as their Seeker. He's a _technical_ player, better than average but not nearly as good as his older brother Charlie was last year. However, he's got a Comet S3, so he'll have a higher top speed than you. If you can, try to get him into a high-maneuver chase, the advantage will be completely yours then."

Cho nodded as she made several notes.

"Their Keeper and captain is still Oliver Wood. Chasers, be warned that he's _good_. Not quite _Protego_ level, but good. Be aware that he does have a slightly older broom and it seems to have a small but noticeable delay when sliding to the left. Not much, maybe half a second at most, but Omnioculars have proved it's there. We'll have to plan out appropriate tactics to capitalize on that, but he's known to adapt _fast_ to new tactics, so we'll need a _lot_ of tactics to switch between."

The other two Chasers nodded.

"Beaters, you're up against the Weasley Twins. Alone, they're about average, but when it comes to teamwork techniques, they're both incredibly skilled _and_ highly unpredictable. Good news, they treat it as a big joke most of the time and have less than two years experience. Bad news, the last time they got serious, they sent both the-then Slytherin Beaters _and_ their Keeper to the Infirmary. If the Slytherin Seeker hadn't caught the Snitch, the cup would be in McGonogall's office this year. Counter-Beating will be your primary mission. Keep them distracted or simply keep the Bludgers _away_ from them. I'd prefer to not rely on Potter's ability to deflect Bludgers any more than I absolutely have to.  
"Now, the Gryffindors have a tendency to try and either flank or simply charge straight down the middle, but they don't seem to have much in the way of _vertical_ thinking. Most of their techniques have a maximum climb or dive of about twenty-five degrees."

As he spoke, the floating figures started flying around the mock-up of the Quidditch pitch, sparkles of light indicating the positions of the virtual Quidditch, Bludgers and Snitch while each figure left a thin trail of light indicating where they had been.

"Now, in the matches I've been able to find out about, they usually start with a drill down the center in order to try and get an early goal, claiming the momentum for themselves. Beaters, aim ahead of them to slow them enough for us Chasers to do a Weavers Shuttle to claim the Quaffle…"

Harry paid close attention as Roger Davis continued to sketch out the possible counters to the techniques that the Gryffindors were known to use regularly.

.

"Quite a table." Harry noted, looking at the oak-and-felt setup closely as most of the Quidditch team filed out of the room. "I thought the lines the figurines left behind them was a nice touch."

"Hermione said it was from a Muggle thing called Tron." Roger shrugged. "No clue what that is, a _mover_ or something?"

"A movie." Harry realized even as he pulled a small spiral-bound notebook out of his inner pocket. A second search produced a ball-point pen and he flipped open the notebook, leafing through it until he came to the page headed "Movies to purchase".

"What are those?" Roger asked curiously, craning to see the list. "Star Wars? Star Trek?"

"They're Muggle Plays that have been recorded, a bit like newspaper pictures, but with sound and proper color." Harry explained.

"Really? Neat."

"However, this table." Harry redirected the conversation. "Can it be linked to the Quidditch Pitch to show the action in real-time? And if it can, how many can be linked, and how far away will it work?"

"What are you getting at?" Davis asked slowly.

.

Professors Hooch and Vector stared at Harry, then at each other in near shock.

"By Merlin's Beard!" Vector said almost worshipfully. "Doing that would revolutionize how people follow Quidditch!"

"If it could be synchronized with the Wireless commentary, that would make it even better." Hooch breathed in delight. "Vector, can you come up with a way to record the games for it? Maybe enchanted tokens that are put into the tables to replay a specific match?"

"If my students _can_ do this, I'll give them all Outstandings in their NEWTS." Vector agreed. "Mr Potter, Mr Davis, ten points to Ravenclaw for this idea. Now if you will excuse me, it's time to make my students hate me by putting all this work onto them!"

"You can tie it into the spell-scan security arrays!" Hooch suggested as Vector bustled out of the room. "I hope that she heard me…"

"This is going to _revolutionize_ Quidditch!" Davis whispered.

"I wonder how expensive the results would be…" Harry mused. "And if more than one stadium can be linked… I think I need to talk to Professor Vector. Excuse me."

* * *

.

"Fetch!"

Harry hurled the log into the air and Fluffy lolloped after it with an overlapping trio of joyful barks. Hagrid laughed as he passed his canteen of water to Harry for the younger boy to drink from.

"Fluffy loves playin' fetch." He smiled. "An' yer great at throwin' fer 'im."

As if on command, Fluffy skidded to a stop in front of them and this time it was Hagrid who picked up the five-foot piece of wood.

"'Oo's a good boy." He rumbled happily. "Wanna fetch? Okay, fetch!"

Hagrid half-spun to pick up speed, then he sent the log soaring into the air. Fluffy briefly toppled over as all three of his heads tried to watch its arc, then with a thundering of paws, he was off again.

"So, Fluffy's helping to guard the Resurrection stone, right?" Harry prompted and Hagrid shook his head.

"Nope. Dat stone's jest a story."

"Ah, so the Philosopher's Stone." Harry deduced, then he looked up to see Hagrid's shocked expression. "Don't worry, I won't blab about it. I value our friendship too much to risk it over simple gossip."

"Ye're a good lad, 'Arry." Hagrid rumbled, patting him on his back hard enough that most full-grown wizards would have been plowed into the ground. "Yep, it's all top-secret an' hush-hush."

"As long as Fluffy doesn't have a weakness, like falling asleep after eating potatoes." Harry joked.

"Nope, 'tis music dat does it." Hagrid said absently as he hurled the log once again. "Ah used ta play 'im ta sleep in da evenings an' 'e'd fall asleep in ma lap… jest like Norbert does now. Once Fluffy's got tired, ya wanna see Norbert again?"

"I'd love to." Harry smiled. "How long before she moves onto solids?"

"Another coupla months." Hagrid shrugged as Fluffy skidded to a stop in front of them. "Havin' the kids 'elp out by mixin' up 'er food saves loadsa time."

Harry nodded, then he threw the slightly-gnawed log for Fluffy to chase again.

.

* * *

_Axefist._

_An opportunity has arisen that will help to dispel at least some of the damage to the Potter name caused by the actions of the Daily Prophet. Professor Septimus Vector is working on a project that would allow people to_ watch _Quidditch live from far away via the use of magical models somewhat similar to those used in Wizarding Chess, models which fly above a model of a Quidditch pitch._

_The details aren't all that important (and I admit that I personally do not currently understand them) but I would like to set up a business in manufacturing said models once the prototypes have been tested. I do not expect the profits to be great, but the other benefits will, in my opinion, compensate._

_I intend to approach all of the Quidditch teams about placing the required arrays in their stadiums, arrays which are linked to tokens that can be placed in the tables to form the required connection. In the long run, special models of each and every new player will prove fairly profitable since the fans will spend more money on better models of the players they support the most. Larger tables can be sold to pubs and clubs (such as the Three Broomsticks or the Gentlewizard's Society) to allow for crowds meaning that rental or connection fees (split with the participating teams) may prove to be a long-term source of income._

_Although I detest using my fame, in this case I believe the outcome supports it. I have asked Professor Vector to contact you once the prototype is completed and the runic arrays fully documented to allow for duplication. She will oversee the main project and I have already given her permission to use my name in the literature as the future primary investor._

_In related news, please try to discover who currently owns the Daily Prophet and if there are shares in it, who currently hold them. Given certain events, it would please me to eventually own an outright majority of the Daily Prophet in order to prevent them from spreading baseless libel aimed at damaging my reputation and thus the potential for greater profits in the future._

_The reason I have taken the time to inform you of this is simple. Should Gringotts decide to participate in any way (however small), it will come to the attention of the Wizarding world that the Goblins have provided a means to enjoy Quidditch even more than before. This sort of publicity may help smooth interactions with future generations of wizards, hopefully reducing costs and thus increasing profits._

_May those who seek to beggar you die in highly improbable accidents that leave you totally blameless._

_Harry James Potter._

* * *

Axefist stroked his chin thoughtfully as he read the letter again.

He could see the potential of the Quidditch device, even Goblins appreciated the game (albeit mainly because the walking roasts often injured each other) and being able to see the moves rather than simply rely on verbal descriptions was a very tempting thought.

As for the Daily Prophet request, it was perhaps the most elegant way of taking revenge that he had ever seen. Most of the staff wouldn't understand why printing the truth was important even if you tied them up and placed them over a flame-bed fueled by the lies of their paper.

Axefist picked up a quill and scribbled a short note that he then placed in a metal sphere. As the sphere rolled down the pipe set next to his desk, he leaned back with a sense of satisfaction.

The project was a long-term one that would take several years, but by the time that his client finished school, he would indeed own a newspaper.

Perhaps even one that printed _real_ news, like over half the Muggle ones.

* * *


	28. Unicorns

Harry and his friends blinked at the sight before them. Almost overnight, a waist-high hedge had been planted near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a hedge that was bordered with what Harry recognized as warding stones. The hedge itself marked out a field within which a stable was being constructed by Hagrid and several of the upper-year students, a stable constructed from a thick drystone wall topped with a sloping roof of branches that had fallen from the trees rather than be cut off. To one side, Ponoma Sprout waved her wand, directing vines to wind between the branches, holding them in place and at the same time, weaving a roof.

"Hagrid?" Harry called and the huge man waved as he jiggled a head-sized stone into position.

"Eyup, 'Arry!" He called. "Can't stop, need to go an' get more stones."

"I'll deal with it." A familiar voice said and Harry grinned as his cousin appeared, then her appearance registered. Her hair was lanky and pale while her normally-bouncy stride seemed almost zombie-like. "Whoo, I need a break anyway. Having to do all this by hand… never realized just how much I relied on magic… Wotcha, Harry, Nev, Hermione."

"Tonks." Harry greeted her. "Erm, what's going on?"

"We're putting together a shielded enclosure for the unicorns." Tonks said grimly. "Something's hunting them. Hagrid's had to heal five and three more have died. We're warding this field to heck and back so that anything or anyone with bad intentions towards the unicorns'll get blasted away so hard that they'll either topple trees or leave dents in Hogwarts' walls. It's made harder by the fact that unicorns can't stand being in buildings that have been shaped by magic. Oh, living plants don't count for some reason, but the rest of the building needs to be _totally_ natural. No trimming rocks or cutting wood, no using cement or tools… makes it quite difficult. However, once we finish, _nothing_ 'll get to them unless it's trying to help them."

"Oh gosh! They're so _beautiful_!" Hermione gasped as she stared at the unicorns congregating near the edge of the Forest.

"That they are." Tonks agreed. "Dunno what was after them, but they reproduce so slowly it'll take a decade or so to rebuild the herd."

Movement near the herd caught Harry's attention and Tonks followed his gaze to the glowering figure.

"Centaur. Looks like it's Bane." She growled. "Damn beings agreed to protect the unicorns as part of being allowed to live here, but they've been too busy staring up at the stars to live up to their end of the agreement. Well, too late for them now. Looks like the secondary agreement will take hold instead."

"You don't like centaurs?" Hermione asked and Tonks shrugged.

"As a species, they're pretty much okay. Heck, the ones in Greece are generally quite friendly and have actually been known to adopt human orphans into their Herd. I still remember that holiday where I met Niko and learned several of my tricks from him… but these ones? They're an offshoot from the Dark Peak Tribe who left for reasons that neither herd likes to discuss." She supplied. "The Dark Peak Herd is willing to let wizards visit their Range so long as they're respectful and don't make a mess. Our lot? They won't even let us know _where_ their Range is!"

"So… they don't like humans?" Neville asked and Tonks shrugged again.

"Their leader? That would be Magorian. Hates us and wouldn't accept medicine from us even if it would save his life and that of every centaur who follows him. Rumor has it he likes to kill lone wizards, but I doubt it. Records don't show that anyone's gone missing around here. The more vocal members of the Herd? They don't like us, but limit themselves to chasing us out of the Forest unless someone does something stupid, in which case it's _ouch_ time. The rest? They're pretty neutral about it. Sorta _you don't hassle us and we won't hassle you_."

"And what's the secondary agreement?" Hermione asked.

"Well, since they just proved they aren't guarding the unicorns, they now have to supply Hogwarts with foodstuffs for the elves to use or potions ingredients for Snape plus a pair of sentries at the gate. _Polite_ sentries who answer to McGonogall. She _won't_ put up with any attempt to weasel out of it and if they try, they get sent back to Dark Peak. Magorian's probably kicking himself now. All he had to do was look after the unicorns and now his herd's got to protect _humans_ or it gets folded back into the very herd he left, leaving him as the lowest-ranked as it'll be seen as proof that he failed as a leader."

"You seem to know a lot about centaurs." Neville said while Hermione frowned in thought.

"To be an Auror, you need to know about all the different Beings and centaurs count, even if they are officially Beasts by their own choice." Tonks shrugged. "Well, gotta get back to work. It's extra credit for the NEWTs, after all."

"Newts?" Harry asked quietly as Tonks jogged off.

"Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests." Hermione supplied almost absently. "They're generally taken two years after the Ordinary Wizarding Levels."

"Sounds like someone in the magical world heard about Acronyms and decided they were a good idea." Harry chuckled, earning an almost reflexive dope-slap from Hermione.

.

From a high window, a figure watched the construction from a darkened room.

"Master… what shall we do?"

" _There is no choice. We will need to find a way past that obstacle that has thwarted us within the month, before the blood we have stored runs out."_ A cruel voice hissed and the man nodded, even though no-one was watching him.

"As you command, Master. However, Dumbledore could be a problem…"

" _Then you shall use the runes I placed many years ago to shut down the Floo once we have learned what the final obstacle is. The old Muggle-lover will need to go to the Ministry to reset the connection and my slippery former servant will be only to eager to persuade the spineless Minister to drag the old fool into a long, pointless meeting lasting_ hours _. Hours that will allow us to complete the task I have set you."_

"Yes, Master. It shall be as you wish."

" _Yes. It shall."_

"But what if someone else tries to interfere, My Lord?"

" _You have a point…well, my slippery former servant will be able to aid with that too…"_

* * *

.

"Mr Potter, remain behind."

Harry looked at the strangely-subdued Professor Snape as the other students finished packing away their equipment, giving him looks of curiosity or sympathy. After the other students had finished filing out, Snape pulled a familiar book from his robe pocket and gently placed it on the desk.

"…I do not often thank people," He said, his voice seemingly calm, but with hints of deeper emotions, "But in this case, it is well deserved. I understand even more now about what caused the sundering between your mother and myself, things that I misunderstood at the time or was simply not aware of. Therefore, thank you. You are truly your mother's child and I am honored to be your Potions teacher.  
"However, should you try to tell anyone about this conversation, I shall deny it to my dying breath. I _do_ have a reputation to maintain."

"Better strict and avoiding accidents than friendly and having half the class in the medical wing." Harry offered and Snape's lips twitched in what might have been an aborted smile.

"Indeed, I may have to use that at the next staff meeting when Sprout whines about how I treat her Badgers." He mused, then he re-focused. "You may go."

Harry picked up the journal and placed it in his book bag, then pulled out another, causing Snape to lift an eyebrow in query.

"I knew how long the journal was and your average reading speed from the previous four." He explained. "This is her sixth journal, but you might find it… painful. It shows how my father reformed himself in her eyes."

Snape accepted the proffered journal. "Then it is perhaps a good idea that I read it also. Perhaps… thank you. And good luck on Saturday."

Harry nodded and left while Snape returned to his desk, where he sat down and looked at the book in his hands for a long moment before sliding it into his pocket.

"Tonight." He whispered, one hand stroking the spine of the journal as he settled it in place. "It will not be easy… but I must know."

.

"Again?" Hermione asked as Harry rejoined them.

"Again?" Harry asked and Hermione shook her head.

"You know what I'm asking. Was this another of those meetings that neither you nor Professor Snape ever talk about?"

Harry nodded and Hermione sighed as they walked into the Great Hall where most of the other students had already assembled.

"No Tonks today?" Neville asked as he looked round for the now-familiar pink hair that marked her presence.

"She mentioned last week that she was going to a preliminary interview this week." Hermione supplied.

"Ah, so she's at the DMLE." Neville nodded as he sat down and helped himself to some of the potatoes. "Makes sense."

"I've read about the DMLE, but I haven't found anything that covers the last decade." Hermione said as she filled her plate with salad to go with the small bow of stew. "Who's the one in charge?"

"Amelia Bones." Neville said. "I've talked to her once, Gran was trying to get the Lestranges sentence changed from life at Azkaban to being thrown through the Veil of Death for what they did to my parents…"

Neville paused, his eyes filled with anger, then he inhaled deeply as he calmed down. "Never mind. Anyway, she's tough and a stickler for following the rules. Unlike Fudge, she can't be bribed."

"Sounds worrying." Harry said. "Our Minister for Magic being easily bribable? What happens if he accepts a bribe to ban Muggleborns from attending Hogwarts?"

Hermione blanched and Neville frowned.

"I _don't_ think that would happen, especially with Dumbledore as the Chief Warlock."

"What _does_ that position entail?" Harry asked.

"Well, a Chief Warlock is the member of the Wizengamot with the power to call for votes, including a Motion of No Confidence in the Minister for Magic. Normally, it takes a minimum of twelve members to put that into effect, but the Chief Warlock can call for it once every moon if needed."

"That's… quite a power." Hermione finally admitted.

"It's primarily a ceremonial position." Neville shrugged as he speared a thick slab of meat and transferred it to his plate. "Oh! he can also appoint himself as a witness in any trial that he isn't presiding over _and_ call in other witnesses. That's about it, really. There's a few ceremonial aspects, but… yeah."

Harry reached out for the pitcher of diluted fruit juice and poured a goblet-full for himself, then filled Neville's proffered goblet too.

"Harry!" Davies said in greeting as he walked up. "I managed to book the pitch for Friday afternoon."

"I'll be there." Harry stated and Davies grinned.

"Maybe I'll finally sneak the Quaffle past you. Oh, show up at… four. We Chasers need to get some practice in at actually getting the Quaffle through the hoops first."

Hermione giggled at Harry's expression.

.

"What do you think they were talking about?"

"No idea. What do you think?"

"I don't know either, twin of mine. That's why I asked."

"Well, it probably doesn't matter. Look at our gallant captain, though."

"Oh yes. Oliver's really getting frantic about this. Our dear older brother is going to find himself under a great deal of pressure to catch the Snitch as fast as possible, isn't he?"

"Indeed he is, brother mine. With _Protego Potter_ guarding the hoops and swatting Bludgers out of the air, it does indeed come down to our older brother."

"Is it wrong to actually hope that he succeeds? I mean, he is a prat, but…"

"But he's _our_ prat."

"Nicely put."

"Thank you."


	29. Testing

"Hey, Tom!" Arthur Weasley waved to the proprietor of the Leaky Cauldron. "I see you've rearranged things."

"Testing out a prototype." Tom grinned, indicating the pedestal-mounted model of a Quidditch pitch located in the middle of the now-expanded room. "There's one at the Hog's Head as well."

"It looks very well made." Molly noted as Ginny half-crouched to look at the small broom-rider models set in small racks on one side of the model. The figurines each had different colors of hair and their robes boasted colored highlights indicating the team that they were on. "Will it really show the game?"

"Should do." Tom noted. "As you can see, we have several people from the Daily Prophet in that corner to watch the first ever relayed match. I heard Xenophilious and his daughter are watching at the Hog's Head."

Ginny gave her mother a pleading glance, only to sag as Molly shook her head. "No, dear. You're staying with us. The Hog's Head can be rather rough at times and I don't want you to get hurt."

Ginny sighed, but turned back to examining the figures, paying very close attention to the Ravenclaw Keeper.

"A bottle of your finest firewhiskey, my good man." A familiar voice drawled and Arthur stiffened as he recognized it. Turning slightly, he saw Lucius Malfoy claiming one of the corner tables, holding the chair for his wife to sit down in before taking his own and draping his cape over the backrest. Tom bustled over and Lucius gave an approving nod as he perused the label of the proffered bottle.

"An excellent vintage, Tom. And since we are here to watch the glorious game, a single round of beer for those who wish it."

A loud cheer rose from the assembled witches and wizards, as well as a round of applause which Lucius graciously acknowledged with a regal nod.

.

"Alright people, this is it!" Roger Davies stated. "Our last game of the season and it's going to be watched and listened to by pretty much all of Wizarding England, so let's give them a show!  
"We've gone through the statistics and probable actions of the Gryffindors, we've created new plays to help us get past their defenses and blunt their own attacks, so let's get out there and _do_ this!"

Harry joined in with the cheer before scooping up his broom and following his team down the tunnel to the pitch.

.

Tom touched his wand to a newly-carved rune on the underside of the bar and the floor of the pub started to sink, forming very wide steps leading down to the newly-formed pillar on which the Quidditch model stood. The lowering of the steps meant that Ginny found herself at eye-level to the pitch when she stood up straight and the witches and wizards crowded round, the raised levels meaning that they could all just about see the pitch with the now-mobile models.

The noise of the Wizarding Wireless spluttering into life sounded from the large sheet of parchment that Tom had stuck to the ceiling, then the voice sounded.

"… _and now the teams are coming out onto the field.  
First it's the Ravenclaw team, led by their Captain and Chaser  
_ _Roger Davies flanked by his fellow-Chasers Ana Gedes and…"_

The voice faded for an moment and Tom cursed before sending a couple of spells at the radio.

"… _Seeker, Cho Chang, and their keeper, the_ Boy-Who-Lived _,  
_ _Harry_ Protego _Potter!"_

A loud cheer sounded as the models finished detaching from their holding rack and moving out onto the field to join the model of Madam Hooch which was already hovering just above the midpoint of the pitch.

" _Next come the Gryffindors led by their Captain and Keeper  
_ _Oliver Wood. Behind him are the Chasers Angelina Johnson,  
_ _Alicia Spinnet an_ …kkkzzzkkktttkkk"

Tom's wand flashed into action again.

_"…llowed by their Seeker,_ _Percy Weasley and the Beaters, the  
twins Fred and George _ _Weasley!"_

Ginny jumped up and down in excitement at hearing her brothers names on the radio. Her father had been looking at Lucius Malfoy at that moment and caught his sneer.

" _The Captains have landed and are being joined by Hogwart's  
_ _own flying instructor and referee, retired from the professional  
_ _circuit, Madam Rolanda Hooch, carrying the box holding the balls  
_ _that are to be used. She's put down the box and the captains are  
_ _shaking hands. Now the teams are taking to the air… and the balls  
_ _have been released!"_

Ginny wasn't the only one who gasped as four pinpoints of light rose from the middle of the model. The gold one seemed to flicker out almost instantly while the two red ones arced away, starting their endless ricochet around the pitch. The purple one was intercepted by one of the Gryffindor Chasers, who started to glow with an aura to indicate that she was holding the Quaffle.

" _Gryffindor take possession of the Quaffle while the Weasley Twins  
_ _deliver synchronised smashes to the Bludgers, firing them ahead of  
_ _Johnson to clear the way for an early shot at the Hoops! She races  
_ _down the pitch and… Gedes does a classic Hyppogryph Hijack and  
_ _snatches the ball from Johnson's hand! They're weaving through  
_ _the Gryffs with an inverted triangle side-pass and_ _Davies_ _shoots!  
_ _Wood_ barely _manages to block the shot, but it's quite a daring  
_ _move from the Ravens who usually play a reactive game at this  
_ _point! Wood passes to Johnson, who passes to Spinnet… but it's  
_ _intercepted by Gedes doing a Rising Hawk! She aims, shoots… and  
_ _Davies_ _intercepts and redirects, catching Wood off-guard! It's Ten  
_ _points to the Ravens with the first goal of the match!"_

Ginny stared in wonder at the swooping and climbing models. Listening to it on the radio was exciting enough, but actually being able to _see_ the tactics used at the same time took it up to a whole new level of awesomeness.

"… _and Weasley dives, heading towards the Gryffindor Hoops with  
_ _Chang in hot pursuit! Weasley rolls, flaring his robes out so that she  
_ _can't see past him and… he slows and grabs the post! It's a Slingshot  
_ _and Chang goes straight past as Weasley heads for the Snitch down  
_ _the left side of the pitch! Chang hopelessly out of position as Weasley  
_ _closes in on the Snitch… and he's forced to roll out as both Bludgers  
_ _almost hit him! The Snitch vanishes, but Weasley managed to decoy  
_ _Chang out of position with almost professional ease!"_

"That's my boy!" Molly announced proudly with a huge smile on her face.

"… _and the Gryffindor team shoot… and Potter blocks the shot! He  
_ _throws the Quaffle to_ _Davies_ _who does an over-and-under, then he  
_ _passes the Quaffle… it's a perfect one-two-three-four and the Lions  
_ _are targeting the wrong Chaser! They missed the last pass and Gedes  
_ _sneaks the Quaffle past Wood, who is looking_ furious _with himself for  
_ _letting it happen! Gryffindor regain control of the Quaffle and… are  
_ _they? Yes, they are! The Lions are doing an almost perfect Centaur's  
_ _Arrow, the Beaters keeping position at the ends of their Arrowhead  
_ _while the lead Chaser acts as a shield, keeping the Ravens guessing  
_ _as to which of the other two has the Quaffle… and there's the Spinning  
_ _Drill, the Beaters peel off, the Chasers each head for a different Hoop…_

 _And Potter got it_ right _! He pulls a scything roll and_ snatches _the Quaffle  
_ _right from the Chaser's grip! The Gryffindors are all completely out of  
_ _position, only Wood stands between the entire Ravenclaw team and  
_ _his goals… and the Ravens have scored! Thirty points to zero already!  
_ _The Gryffindors are regrouping… and off they go! The twins are herding  
_ _the Bludgers… Oooh! Ravenclaw forced out of formation by a_ fantastic  
 _one-two-smash! Both Bludgers sent down exactly the same path to  
_ _open the way for the Gryffindor… no! Spinnet is clipped by a Bludger  
_ _and drops the Quaffle, straight into Gedes' hands! Gedes races to the  
_ _Gryffindor Hoops, the Chasers after her… and the Weasley Twins are  
_ _using a Bludger to block her! Gedes slows… and she doesn't have the  
_ _Quaffle after all! A perfect Ghost Pass! We completely missed it and so  
_ _did the Gryffindors! Wood frantically tries to get into position to block  
_ _the shot and… so close! The Quaffle bounces in off the inside of the  
_ _Hoop! That's another ten points to Ravenclaw and… Chang seems to  
_ _have spotted the Snitch, she's raced past Weasley who has spun to  
_ _follow her. Chang is on a Comet S2, but Weasley's S3 is slightly faster  
_ _and he's gaining on her… Chang is diving, Weasley in hot pursuit as she  
_ _dives even steeper, rolling as she does so… has she seen the Snitch? No!  
_ _Chang pulls out in a textbook Wronski Feint and Weasley tries to follow,  
_ _but he can't pull out as fast and clips the ground! Percy Weasley is down!"_

"NO!" Molly gasped, going pale and Ginny gasped in shock.

" _Wait, he's getting back to his feet and… he just_ saluted _Chang! What a  
_ _Gentlewizard he is! He's back on his broom and rising back into the game!"_

Molly exhaled, both hands clutched over her chest as she watched the model that represented her third-born son rise back into the game.

"We raised him well." Arthur whispered to her and Molly nodded, tears of pride in her eyes.

.

This has to be one of the most spectacular games I have seen in years." Albus noted as he picked another Lemon Drop from the bowl hovering by his chair. "I see young Percy is keeping to the best traditions of the sport."

"He always remembers the rules." Minerva supplied as covertly she filched a Lemon Drop from the Headmaster's supply. "That's one of the reasons I appointed him as Prefect."

"And why I kept him on as one." Septimus Vector added. "I did have to point out to him that Prefects are meant to deal with issues _before_ they become so, but he's got the idea now."

"It would seem that should he fail to get a career with the Ministry, he may have a future in Quidditch." Albus smiled, then his eyes moved to a different flyer. "And I see that young Potter hasn't lost his taste for dramatic moves. That was quite a save he just pulled."

"At this rate, Severus, I can see the Quidditch Trophy moving to _my_ office for the next seven years." Flitwick chuckled, causing the Potions Master to give him a _look_.

.

Ginny took another sip of her Butterbeer as she watched the action on the table.

"… _and with that shot, the Ravens are in the lead by one-hundred and  
_ _fifty points to zero! This is looking to be one of the worst losses that  
_ _the Gryffindor team have… wait, Weasley accelerates, diving towards  
_ _the right of the pitch… and Chang goes after him, but she was on the  
_ _wrong side! Weasley accelerating faster than Chang, he swerves and  
_ _only just misses the stands as Chang closes in… Weasley's down! Hit  
_ _on the leg by a Bludger, but he's raised his hand! Is that…? Yes it is!  
_ _Percy Weasley pulls victory out of almost certain defeat as he catches  
_ _the Snitch, earning Gryffindor a hundred and fifty points, winning the  
_ _game in the process! The final score is Gryffindor one hundred and  
_ _fifty, Ravenclaw one-hundred and fifty but Gryffindor finished with  
_ _the Snitch, meaning that victory goes to them! A dead heat in points,  
_ _but Gryffindor have the Snitch! This has been the closest game I can  
_ _ever remember commentating on, ladies and gentlewizards, but it's  
_ _over and Gryffindor! Have! Won!"_

Ginny leapt up and down in joy, then she felt herself swept into a joyful hug by her father, a hug which her mother joined in with.

"Well done, Percy!" Molly wept happily. "Well done!"

.

"Nice one, bro." Charley whispered from his position beside Hagrid in the Teacher's box. "I _knew_ you could do it."

.

"He's going to be insufferable, isn't he?"

"Indeed he will, my brother, indeed he will."


	30. Trouble

" _It is time. Send the letter, for tonight we act!"_

* * *

.

"Harry, Neville, have you seen Hermione recently?"

Both boys lifted their gaze from the essays they were working from and glanced at each other.

"No…" Harry finally said slowly. "Why?"

"She said something about seeing someone near Fluffy and checking it out." Padma said, her irritation at not knowing what Hermione had been talking about evident in her voice. "That was several hours ago, though…"

Harry packed away his quills. "Neville, Padma, go to Dumbledore. Tell him what's going on. I'm going to check to see if anyone's got by Fluffy. It'll be okay, he likes me."

Neville followed Harry's example as he packed away his own work. "Okay. Padma?"

"Let's go." Padma stated firmly as she led the way out of the common room. "I'm not letting anything happen to Hermione."

"Who'd help you with Transfiguration if something did happen?" Neville joked, only to receive a glare. "Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a bit."

"Don't!"

.

Draco growled as he lurked in the corridor, wand in one hand and Battlestick in the other. His father had sent him a letter which disintegrated as soon as he had read it, giving him a set of instructions that made no sense to him, as well as a Battlestick that held no less than _four_ spells in it and a warning that should he fail in his mission, he would be officially disowned.

Footsteps sounded and Draco took a deep breath, then he stepped out from behind the suit of armor, his wand already in motion.

"Stupefy!"

.

Harry pushed against the door, splintering the lock and stepped into the room spotting the now-silent harp in the corner of the room. His suspicions confirmed, he looked up at the other occupant of the room.

"Hello, Fluffy." He smiled as the Cerberus greeted him. "Hey, I need to go stop that thief who snuck past you when you were asleep."

Fluffy blinked, then started sniffing before growling at the trapdoor. Moving back, the three-headed dog allowed Harry to drop through the hole and onto the plant.

"So it _was_ Devil's Snare." Harry whispered, glad that he had described the plant to Neville and got a description. "Lumos!"

His wand shone and Harry dropped through, glad that he had sent Neville and Padma off to explain things to Dumbledore. All he had to do was buy some time for the greatest Wizard alive to reach him.

Landing on his feet, Harry made his way into the next room which was filled with winged keys fluttering around under the domed ceiling. Harry ignored them and the broomsticks by the entrance as he strode across the room to the only other way out of the room. Forming a fist, he punched the door with all of his strength.

"Bloody hell! Ow! That bloody _hurt_!"

Shaking his hand to try and get the feeling back, Harry glared at the unmarred door for a long moment.

"Right." He growled. "Forget punching, let's try _kicking_!"

Bracing himself, Harry took half a step forwards to build momentum, then stopped as the door slowly toppled over and landed on the floor with a loud _bang_. Harry stared at it, then his gaze rose to the cracked archway it had been blocking.

"Wizards." He snorted after a long moment. "Reinforce the door and ignore the door-frame."

Passing through, he paused at the sight of the four rows of stone figures waiting for him, then made a decision. Grabbing one of the broomsticks from the room behind him, he mounted it and flew straight through the cracked arch and over the giant chess set that stretched across the chamber. Landing, he opened the next door and gazed for a moment at the unconscious troll.

"Huh, wonder how that happened." He mused as he walked round the slumbering behemoth and towards the next room. "Stupid question. If it was Quirrell, he put it here, so he'd know how to take it down. Well, means I don't have to punch this one through a wall."

The instant he entered the next room, purple flames rose up behind him while the door in front of him was engulfed in black flames. Snorting, Harry walked around the table on which seven bottles stood and paused just in front of the far wall, only a few paces from the flame-shrouded archway. Pausing to check that his fist had recovered, Harry punched straight through it, sending rocks tumbling into the next room. Hearing an exclamation of shock from the other side, Harry dived through, rolling back to his feet and finding himself face to face with a surprised Professor Quirrell who was standing in front of the Mirror of Erised while Hermione lay sprawled next to him, the slow rising and falling of her chest the only sign that she was still alive.

"M… m… Mr Po… Potter…"

"That stutter doesn't fool me at all." Harry stated, glaring at the teacher, then he blinked as Quirrell's head seemed to go semi-transparent for a moment, revealing a dark mass nestled into the back of his skull. "What the hell is that under your turban? And what have you done to Hermione?"

Quirrel blinked, then pulled out his wand. "Incarcerous!"

A net of ropes shot out from the end of Quirrel's wand and Harry seemed to blink out of existence, reappearing behind Quirrel and yanking the turban off his head.

"Eewww."

The red-eyed, noseless face glared at Harry, then snarled as Quirrel spun round.

" _Turn back, fool! Let me face him! You see what you have reduced me to, boy?_ " It hissed and Harry laughed.

"That _I_ reduced you to? Who _are_ you, anyway?"

" _I am Lord Voldemort!"_

"You're Voldemort? A diseased lump on the back of someone's head?"

"Crucio!"

The spell passed through where Harry had been standing, then Quirrel slammed into the wall. Harry lowered his hand as Quirrel slid down, knocked out by the impact.

"Too easy." He smirked, then he sighed as Quirrel rose.

" _You cannot defeat me that easily, boy!_ " Voldemort snarled, flexing Quirrel's arms in ways that they shouldn't have been able to move in. " _Now, both you_ and _your useless friend will die so that I, the Great Lord Volde…_ "

Voldemort slammed into the ceiling, propelled by Harry's blurred punch, then slammed back down onto the ground in a rain of debris. Harry stared at the figure, then leapt back as a misty form rose from it.

" _I will have my revenge!_ " It hissed, lunging at Harry…

…only for Harry to blur away, reappearing on the other side of the room, Hermione by his feet. The spirit glared at him, then vanished through one of the walls.

"Huh." Harry said after a moment. "Well, now that it's all over, perhaps I should get Hermione to the Infirmary."

Walking out through the hole he'd made, he glared at the purple flames, then punched a hole through the wall beside the door, pulling as much of the debris into the room as possible. Checking his work, he nodded and returned to the mirror room where he picked up Hermione and used the ropes that Quirrell had fired at him to secure her to his back. Carefully ducking through the hole to avoid causing Hermione any more injuries, Harry made his way towards the troll room and the broomstick that he would use for his return journey.

.

"Cornelius, although I am happy to aid you whenever you ask, wouldn't it be better if you asked your department heads about these things?" Albus sighed, resisting the urge to rub at his forehead. Just how had a simple mission to reset the Floo connection turned into a multi-hour meeting with Fudge?

If he were a suspicious man, he would have assumed that it was an attempt to keep him away from Hogwarts…

…wait.

.

" _Another_ one?" Madam Pomphrey sighed as Harry entered the Infirmary with Hermione in his arms. "Put her in this bed and let me check her over."

Harry carefully laid Hermione down, then his eyes widened at the sight of Neville and Padma lying in the next two beds. "What happened?"

"Someone _obliviated_ them." Pomphrey growled, waving her wand over Hermione. "Miss Granger is suffering from a concussion, meaning that although she isn't in any danger now, she won't remember much of this day either.."

Harry blinked. "Wait, you mean that Nev and Padma won't remember anything that happened today?"

"That's what an _obliviation_ does." Pomphrey confirmed.

"I've got the potions you requested." Flitwick said as he trotted into the infirmary, then he sighed. " _Another_ one? When I find out who's been attacking my Ravens, I'll ensure they pay for their actions in the Dueling Ring!"

Harry carefully stepped aside and let his Head of House past.

.

Draco dropped the half-used Battlestick into the envelope and sealed it, then he stepped into the Owlery.

"I have a letter for my father." He said and a moment later, one of the owls had landed in front of him , one foot held out imperiously. Draco carefully tied the letter to the proffered leg, then stepped aside to let the owl fly into the evening sky.

Leaving the Owlery, he crept back down to the Dungeons, the warm glow of satisfaction in his heart. He had successfully stunned two of Potter's friends as they tried to reach the Headmaster's office and used the Battlestick on them, just as instructed.

Now all he had to do was keep a low profile until the end of term, whereupon he would probably be able to learn from his father's gloating _why_ he had done those things.

Footsteps alerted him and he ducked into the nearest doorway. A moment later, he heard McGonogall's voice.

"Come on, Severus! Who knows how long that alarm's been sounding? We need to check on the mirror _now_!"

Draco smiled at the proof that luck was finally going his way. With his Head of House nowhere near the Slytherin Common Room, he could sneak in and claim to have simply been in his room all along.

* * *

.

"…and Quirrel was dead, but the only spells were an Incarcerous and a Crucio, both cast from his wand." Minerva finished, shaking her head.

"This is truly a mystery." Dumbledore agreed. "Are you _certain_ that Harry didn't do it?"

Minerva laughed in disbelief. "Albus, whatever went through those chambers smashed through _two_ walls without magic! Do you really think an eleven year old boy could do that?"

"No, you're right, Minerva." Albus sighed. "Whoever the one who fought against the spirit possessing Quirrell was, I doubt it was young Harry. Of course, that leads to the question… who has the Stone now? It wasn't in the mirror, so where is it?"

.

"Harry," Hermione said nervously. "I was wondering… what's this?"

Harry stared at the fist-sized glowing red stone in Hermione's hands.

"How did you…?" He started, then he stopped with a head-shake. "Hermione, yesterday you got caught up in something that cost you a day's memory."

"I know that!" Hermione snapped, then she sighed. "Sorry. I know, but how does it explain… this?"

"Well, that's the Philosopher's Stone." Harry said, causing Hermione to pale in shock. "You saved it from Professor Quirrell who was trying to steal it so that he could revive his master, Voldemort. Now you have a choice. Keep it or…"

"It's not mine." Hermione stated firmly. "Philosopher's Stone… Nicholas Flamel! If I can find a way to contact him, I can give the Stone back to him!"

"And with Voldie out of the way for now, he should be able to keep it safe." Harry agreed. "Unless it's a fake, of course."

Hermione stared at him. "Why would it be a fake?"

"Why not?" Harry shrugged. "Bait to get Voldie to break cover and see if he's still around."

Hermione gave the stone in her hands a long, considering look.

"Any idea how to find out?"

As if on cue, Grace flew into the room and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"I think Grace may be able to help." Harry smiled. "She's a Post Owl and I haven't been using her much. You up for the challenge?"

Grace gave a barking noise and nodded.

"There you go. Write a letter and Grace'll take it for you."

"Thanks Harry. And thank you, Grace."


	31. Year's End

As he filed into the Great Hall with the other students for the End of Year feast, Harry contemplated the events which had occurred after he had sent Voldie packing.

Hermione had borrowed Grace several times to exchange letters with Flamel (he still had no clue how Grace had found him when most of the world couldn't) and had learned that the stone she had managed to prevent Quirrell from claiming was actually a fake after all. However, Flamel had been quite impressed by her bravery (even though she didn't remember any of what she'd done) and had sent a token of his appreciation to her parents, for Hermione to open once she returned home.

At his request (and using instructions that he had supplied), Hermione had destroyed the fake stone, disenchanting it and turning it back into a lump of Mithril. Hermione was already researching how it could be used to augment spell-based protections.

Neville and Padma were both far more capable than they had been before. Waking up to find that they had both been _obliviated_ had encouraged them to increase their efforts in DADA, which had been temporarily taught by Dumbledore himself. Both had improved significantly in both evasion and shielding and they often practiced against each other under Flitwick's direction.

Draco had been far quieter than normal, something which had attracted Harry's attention. However, the Blond Slytherin hadn't actually _done_ anything that Harry could discover. Nevertheless, his change in attitude was highly suspicious.

The final Quidditch match (Gryffindor vs Slytherin) had been hard-fought, but Percy Weasley had again caught the Snitch, winning the game by thirty points, just enough of a margin that the Quidditch Cup was going to live in the Gryffindor tower next year given that the Lions had _won_ all three of their games. Cho Chang had taken it as a challenge rather than an insult and had made comments about spending the summer studying with one of the Quidditch teams.

Once everyone was settled down, Dumbledore stood up, unleashing a crackling spark from his wand to get everyone's attention.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore smiled at them. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast! What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were… you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts…  
"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding and the points stand thus. Gryffindor are in fourth place with two hundred and fifteen points, Hufflepuff are in third with three hundred and seventy one. Slytherin are in second place with four hundred and sixteen while Ravenclaw are in first place with four hundred and twenty-five!  
"This means that Ravenclaw have won the House Cup!"

As he spoke, Dumbledore waved his wand, turning the decorations from the mixed colors that they had been into the blue-and-silver of Ravenclaw.

"One moment, Headmaster." Snape said, standing up and Dumbledore looked at him curiously. The Potions Master pulled a small book out of his robe as he descended from the dais on which the Teacher's Table rested and he continued to speak as he walked down the hall.

"I wish to award ten points."

Draco smirked, then frowned in confusion as Snape walked straight past him. The Professor walked up to Harry and held the book out to him.

"Thank you for loaning me the journals." He said as Harry accepted the book and tucked it away, noting a piece of parchment sticking out that hadn't been there before. "Five points to Ravenclaw for the loan which has aided me in finishing the development of a Potion that I had abandoned, and another five points to Ravenclaw as a whole for the establishment of your inter-house study group."

Ignoring the shocked silence, Snape turned and returned to the Teacher's Table.

"What was _that_ about?" Neville asked in shock while on the Slytherin table, Drago was gripping his goblet so hard that the metal had actually deformed slightly.

"I think he was making a point to his House." Hermione half-whispered. "What's the bet that we'll get some Slytherins joining us next year?"

"Well, that was quite a surprise, wasn't it?" Dumbledore asked, smiling at the dour Potions Master, who simply re-seated himself. "And so, I believe that it's time for just a few more words and here they are! Tuck in!"

Harry grinned as the tables suddenly filled with food.

"We'll win the Quidditch Cup next year." Roger Davies declared. "Just watch."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

.

"Back home tomorrow." Neville sighed as he settled back in his bed. "Another round of political trading disguised as parties, social backstabbing and boring lessons in etiquette."

"I'll make sure to invite you over once I've purchased some more films." Harry laughed. "Of course, it may take a while. I've got a meeting with Axefist to get through and I need to finish getting my home sorted. For starters, I need more reference books for my library… both Magical _and_ Muggle. Plus food shopping, new clothes… I'm going to be quite busy for the first couple of weeks."

"Sounds like it." Neville yawned. "Well, invite me over for your birthday, at least."

Harry froze. "Oh hell. I'm going to have to hold a party since I'm the Head of the Potter family! Crap! Erm, Nev, I'm probably going to need your help… or your Gran's, in order to work out just _who_ to invite…"

"You do need to get some good publicity to offset what happened last Christmas." Neville agreed. "Hosting a party to celebrate your birthday would help you make more connections which will be useful once you finish at Hogwarts."

"And maybe before as well." Harry sighed. "I'll have to make sure to invite Madam Bones and her niece as a way of saying _thank-you_. Actually, do you know when her niece's birthday is? I really should send her a present or something…"

Neville chuckled. "So long as she doesn't take it as a marriage proposal."

Harry froze. "Damn, do you think she would?"

Neville broke down with laughter and Harry glared at him for a moment.

"Okay, that was actually pretty funny. I'm going to have to get you back for that, though."

* * *

.

The rocking of the carriage was rather soothing, as was the sound of the steam engine pulling the train towards Kings Cross.

"That was quite an interesting year." Hermione finally offered. "Harry, thanks for loaning me Grace."

"You're welcome." Harry said, reaching up to stroke the Snowy Owl who was perched on his shoulder and occasionally running her beak through his hair in a doomed attempt to try and tame it. "So, consider yourself invited for my birthday. If you want to stay over so you can show your parents more of what you learned, that'll be fine."

"Thanks, Harry." Hermione said softly. "I'd like that."

"Of course, it may have to wait a bit." Harry mused. "I mean, I still need to oversee some final modifications to the house."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Hermione smiled. "Besides, I won't be able to make the first couple of weeks. My parents and I are headed to the _Ile du Levant_ in France for a fortnight, then we're off to Paris for another week. At least I'll be able to get some clothes shopping done in Paris. Robes may be warm, but they seem so… Victorian and boring."

"What sort of clothes do Muggles wear, then?" Neville asked and Hermione laughed.

" _Loads_ of things! I'll try to find some style magazines to give you an idea."

"Thanks." Neville said gratefully. "I don't know if it's still the case, but before Christmas, Gran refused to believe that the Muggles had anything that was better than what we Magicals have."

"The magic of Disney." Hermione giggled.

"Speaking of, what other films do you recommend I buy?" Harry asked, pulling out his notebook.

* * *

.

"Darling, the train will be arriving soon."

"I know, my beloved." Lucius Malfoy smiled, taking one more look at his newest purchase. In the center of the purpose-built extension stood a jewel-encrusted table with a scale model of a Quidditch Pitch on the top. Ornate shelves mounted on the walls decorated in various colors held the models of the various Quidditch teams and the respective tokens required to link the table to the arrays in their stadiums, meaning that Lucius and his allies could watch (and listen to) the games in a luxurious setting rather than slumming with those who didn't understand the value of tradition.

"Dobby! My cloak and cane!"

A House-elf appeared before him with the items in question and Lucius swung the cloak over his shoulders before scooping up the cane, ignoring Dobby as he vanished again.

"I am ready, my beloved. Let us go and collect our son."

.

"I'll send Grace with a formal invitation, but if you and your parents want to come at any time in the last week of July, I'll be happy to put you up." Harry said as Hermione climbed out of his Trunk clad in jeans and a jumper rather than robes."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled as she bundled her robes into her own trunk, then followed Harry's example by shrinking it and putting it in her pocket. "And thanks for letting me use your trunk to change in. I didn't want to kick you out of the compartment, but there was quite a queue for the toilets…"

"Not a problem." Harry laughed as the train came to a halt at Platform Nine-and-three-quarters. "Nev, got your stuff?"

"I do." Neville smiled. "Trevor's safe in his aquarium… thanks for recommending that I get one, he likes it there. You got everything?"

"I do." Harry grinned. "Even got my new broom which I brought from uncle Fil."

Hermione shook her head in mock despair. "I don't know how I put up with you, given how you keep twisting the rules like that!"

"Because you like having a strong man around to help you?" Harry laughed, striking a body-builder's pose, then ducking the dope-slap Hermione launched at him. "Easy there, you'll dislodge Grace."

"Sorry, Grace." Hermione apologized. "But could you slap him for me?"

Grace obliged, swatting Harry with her wing and he glared at her.

"Traitor."

* * *

.

Harry found himself catapulted out of the Floo, only to come to a halt in the middle of the room. As he was lowered to the ground, he found himself facing Jor-El.

" _Welcome back, sir."_

"Thanks." Harry said as his feet settled on the ground. "I assume that the construction went as planned?"

" _It did, sir."_ Jor-El confirmed. _"The Dimensional Reactor is fully operational and providing more than enough power to run all systems as optimal levels."_

"And the fact that you're here means that the conversion went as planned." Harry noted, looking round and failing to see any changes from the previous time he had been in the room. "You know, at Hogwarts, there are ghosts… maybe I could pass you off as one, a ghost tied into the house. It would let you interact with my visitors if needed… although we'd have to create some form of backstory since I don't think that the Wizarding World would take kindly to the fact that I'm not the trueborn son of James and Lily."

" _Quite possible, sir."_ Jor-El agreed. _"How would you like me to present myself?"_

Harry tilted his head slightly in thought. "Hmmm, grayscale, slightly out of focus and hovering above the ground rather than walking would be a good start." He finally decided. "As for interacting with guests, perhaps you could pretend to be my butler or something? A spirit tied to the land, perhaps?"

" _That would allow me to use my abilities as required without causing any suspicions."_ Jor-El agreed. _"I shall do as you request, Kal-El."_

"And I think you'd better call me Harry."

" _As you request, Harry."_

Harry nodded as he pulled out his Trunk and un-shrunk it. Opening the Bookcase, he looked at Jor-El.

"Any chance you could move these to the library for me?"

The books floated off their shelves and vanished through the doorway.

"Cool." Harry grinned. "This is going to be a _brilliant_ summer! Oh, are there any records of how Kryptonians used to use magic?"

" _The records in question have already been printed out and placed in the library for you, sir."_

"Nice work." Harry congratulated the A.I. "I'll also need records on any Kryptonian martial arts you may have. I get the feeling that at least one of my friends will want me to teach them."

" _The training room is capable of aiding you in learning the Kryptonian fighting art of your choice, sir."_

Harry blinked. "Okay. First, I think I need a quick tour of my expanded home."

" _Very good, sir."_

"And I also need to check the Potions Lab. I may have need of it soon…"


End file.
